


Asylumstuck

by Le_purple



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Mental Institution, Amnesia, Bathing/Washing, Bathtubs, Boys Kissing, Cuddling & Snuggling, Demonic Possession, Eating, Electrocution, Fights, Fist Fights, Gen, Headaches & Migraines, Hiding, Horrorterrors - Freeform, Humanstuck, Kissing, Manipulation, Mental Institutions, Mind Control, Mind Manipulation, Naked Cuddling, Nurses, Platonic Cuddling, Possession, Sad, Sad Ending, Sadstuck, Sleepy Cuddles, Solitary Confinement, Suicide Attempt, Surprise Kissing, Tasers, Therapist Rose Lalonde, Therapy, Unconsciousness, Unrealistic Depictions Of Mental Institutions, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-03-29 20:13:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19027120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Le_purple/pseuds/Le_purple
Summary: Something had gone wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong.That's allKarkat VantasKurtis Valdez could think as he was escorted to his room, John, a boy he once called his friend, locking the door behind him, sealing him once more in the cell with a quiet 'clink'.The story of a doomed session in which the trolls are turned into human patients in an asylum, and the beta kids have lost their memories of the game and are workers in the asylum.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Tags will be added as I keep on writing.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on 30-5-19

Something had gone wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong.

That's all ~~Karkat Vantas~~ Kurtis Valdez could think as he was escorted to his cell, John, a boy he once called his friend, locking the door behind him and sealing him once more in the cell with a quiet 'clink'.

"Come on buddy, if you don't get in bed soon, I'm gonna have to get Jade again, and you know she always puts the buckles on too tight." John warned gently, peeking through the bars at ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis, who was already sitting in the corner, forehead resting against the plush padding as he muttered hopelessly.

"Kurtis? I know the first week is hard, it's been hard for all of your friends, but you need to just...make it a little easier on yourself, ok? I hate seeing you getting hurt." John got no answer. He huffed sadly and slowly walked off, giving ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis his space.

"It isn't meant to be like this." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis whispered, bringing his hands up to his hair, lamenting the loss of his horns and feeling his rounded fingernails dig into his human scalp. "We were supposed to win!" The ~~troll~~ boy smashed his fists against the wall, gritting his teeth in anger. As he sat there in silence, he could hear similar screams of anger and dismay from the other cells, some cursing and screaming, and some begging to be listened to.

"John! It's me, Vriska! Why don't you remember me?! You were my human matesprite, and you were the best fucking human I have ever met, who never thought I was a piece of shit even after you found out what I did and that I was a manipulative bitch! How could you forget everything?!" ~~Vriska~~ Veronica yelled, her voice barely audible through the thick walls.  
 ~~Vriska~~ Veronica had been one of the ~~trolls~~ patients to take the situation the hardest, screaming each night and fighting when she could, even with one arm and one eye, the ~~troll~~ girl almost always in a straight jacket. ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis had honestly thought that she would be the one scheming by now, ~~Terezi~~ Theresa incapacitated and trying to get used to her human blindness, with no smells or tastes able to paint her an image. She was always taken care of by the nurses, one of them (usually John or Dave) linking arms with her to make sure she doesn't fall over, (as a cane would be a safety hazard,) and she never really had any severe punishments even if she was louder than ~~Vriska~~ Veronica. ~~Tavros~~ Travis also had similar treatment, Jade or Dave usually keeping a close watch on him.

 ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis stood up and began to pace around his room, feeling the plush floor resist against his feet. Everything down to the bed frame was baby-proofed. If no one else was planning to escape, he would have too.  
"Kurtis," A familiar voice said; it was effeminate, regal, authoritative. "You're walking around I see. What do you happen to have on your mind?"

"R-Rose!" ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis blurted, taken by surprise.

"It's Dr Lalonde to you." She said firmly, tilting her head to the side and raising her eyebrows. If she had glasses, ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis was sure that she'd have looked over them at him.

"Right, Dr Lalonde. Why are you checking in on me, I thought that it was the other humans jobs?" It took Rose a second to register that 'other humans' referred to the nurses.

"It is, and I have no intention of stealing their positions. I am just monitoring the patients, giving comfort, et cetera, et cetera." Rose informed, ~~Karkats~~ Kurtis' heart sinking at the word 'patients'.

"How's everyone doing? Kanaya, Terezi?-And Gamzee!" He approached the bars on the door, grabbing onto them as he spoke.

"Kianna is fine from what I hear, she is well-mannered, if a little sarcastic, although she barely talks to me and in my presence looks incredibly melancholic." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis felt his face droop a little.

"Everyone else is fine though, right?" He pleaded.

"Theresa seems emotionally well, especially in the presence of nurses Dave and John, as she has seemed to grow attached to them. Physically though she seems to be struggling somewhat with her blindness. Gabriel hasn't hurt any of the guards, but seems to be...sulky."

"What about everyone else? Sollux, Vriska, Ara-"

"I am not to disclose any more patient info to you. I have already overstepped my bounds and said more than was needed." Rose said, seeing ~~Karkats~~ Kurtis' face going red as he bit his lip. "But, you are all having your first recreational time tomorrow, so you may find out yourself."

"Thank you Doctor!" The ~~troll~~ boy chirped, smiling wide.

"It's just good to see you more talkative Kurtis." Rose replied encouragingly, beginning to walk away. "Keep up the attitude for our session tomorrow." As Rose walked off, his cell door opened, Dave and Jade stepping in.

"Alright enough talking, it's time for bed, Kurtis." Jade announced. "Get in the bed and I'll buckle you in." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis obediently climbed into bed, already feeling the weighted sheets press him against the stiff mattress.

"Hey Jade, can-" ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis choked back the other nurses name, still not ready to say it. "Can he buckle the sheets? You do it too tight." After stating his request, the female nurse gave him a light whack on the cheek.

"Don't call me by my name, patient. John might let you get away with that kind of behaviour but I won't. And no special requests, the straps are for our safety and yours." Jade snapped, being sure to pull the straps _extra_ tight.

"Jeez Jade. That's a kinda harsh." Dave criticised, walking out of the room with Jade, locking the door behind, the pairs conversation getting quieter and quieter as they walked to the next cell.

 ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis would say that the hardest part of being trapped in the asylum wasn't the isolation, or the confinement, it was seeing his friends act like this, acting like they didn't remember him. He could see it behind the eyes of Dave, John, Jade and Rose that his pleas falling on deaf ears.  
"There has to be some way do get through to them..." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis muttered, trying to think of what he could do to-

b͎̺̘̹̫̺̄͆͆̐̑͑̕ủ̶̡͕̫̣̲͇̩̰̽̇̓́̐́̾̃͜ͅt͉̜̫̤͌̔̋̆̑͗̓͋̑͜ t̢̙̱̻̮͉̝͙̗̑͒̒̈́͞h̶̛̛̘͔̺͚̞͎͚̑̊́͐ḙ̣͕̫͎̋͐́̔̇͘r̡̭̠̩̹̺̪̒́̍̈̐̊̓͋̚͟͡ͅȩ̲̬͕̮̟̱̀̃̑̓̚͞ ẉ̢̧͇̳̙̙̃̈́̍͒̕̚a̸̪͉̬̙̲͐̐͂̂͂͡ş̰̦̬͗̎̎̎͂̐̋̅̈́͡ͅ n̷̢̯̖͕͈͋͒̿̄̒͂̕͞ơ̷̼̗͍̰̱̳̙̆͑̑͐ w̸̢͉͈͖̜̬̯̣̩̙̄̃̿̌͌͆͒̈̕a̢̛͙̹̲̰͚͓̍̑̌̅͢y̨̛̱͖̺̳̗̳͂̐̽͌͗̂͆͘͟͝

j̶̧͕͕̺̙̣̫͔͌̈́̎̐̌́̚̕ủ̷̘̖̠̘͙̺̺̲͋̾́͒̕s͈͔͇̭̪̔́̃̍͆̿̓t̨͕̱̥̥̝̺̫̘̄͆͘̕͟͠ ǵ̢͇̥̲̟̄͒͂̕ỉ̸̳̺͓͇̮̍̃̉̅̽̃̊v̭̳̝̖͎̪̬͗̿̒͘̚͢ë̴̢̩̝̬̻͍̃͂͆̕͞ ȗ͖̗̭͖̺̬̾́͐͂̈́͐͊͠p̶̛̰͙͚͍̜͎͈̼̐̄̏̽̎͑́͌ K̶̡͙̪̞̞̐͋̉͗͋̓̒̐̾͟͠à̷̟̝̬̬̌̈́̑͌͟͡r̘̣͎͙͎̙̼̂͋̂̃͘͞k̵͉̭͚̹̺̞̳̭͖͂̈͆͌̆̅̉͛͢͡ä̵̙̞͚̘̘̪̠̝̤͋̔͡͠ẗ̡͉͚̳̪͗͒̽͆͑͢

ă̷̛͔̣̲̼͉̙̼͈̣̿͗͋͞c̢̡͎̭̭̖̗̓͌̀͝͡c̶͔̹͓̝̗̺̟͐̓̾̅̐͒͠e͎̼̮̺̥̮̥̗̬͊̐̈́̌̆̏̎͘͟ṕ̨̧͎̠͎͚̱̓̂̎͜͢͝͡ť̡͙̙̥͚͙̠͖̼̿̊͑̐̋͛̆͢ y̷̨̧̧̤̫̜̠̭͐̑̒̋͘͢o̵̢͉̙͕͇̫̩̙̣̿̀̇̎̋̈̅u̲̫̗̯͉̓̆̿̎͆̈́̀̕͟͝r̶̲̲̜̪̥̖̔͗̓̄̑̒͐͛ f̯̗̳̩͈̈͂̈́͘a̴̩̗͇̤̘̾̇͊͊̈́́̂̓t̶̻̖̤̭̝͋̐̄̃͘ę̹̞̻̘̼̋̑̓̔̌́̋͝

Ģ̷̡̢̢̥͓̦͂̂͂̊͛͐̾ I̥̮̠̫͈͈̍͛̎̈͌̿̕͞͞ V̢̤̤̜̳̬͕̈͗̒̎͟͠ E̙͓͕̠̳͉̠̐̉͒̎̃͋̐͗͜ Ị̧̡͎̯̭͔͆̽͒̎̑̄͑̈ͅ N̶̨̪̻̱̭̮̱̥̠̹̏͂̔͛̏

 ~~Karkats~~ Kurtis' head was full of a new sensation of static and fire, the ~~troll~~ boy crying out as he felt the worst pain he had ever experienced surge through his veins like acid and venom, magma curdling on his tongue.  
Tendrils of darkness clouded his vision, dragging him down until his body was heavy against sheets that dissolved underneath him. He suddenly found himself plunging through a black abyss. ~~Karkats~~ Kurtis' body walls pulled through the water of time and space by unseen tendrils, the ~~troll~~ boy unable to resist or struggle at being pulled by his neck and arms, insignificant body paralysed. He looked down at his arms and saw that familiar grey tone he had missed so much, Karkat gasping in ecstatic surprise as he realised that he was in his old body.  
"Looks like you nookhuffers can't control my dream self!" Karkat yelled triumphantly, waiting for the tendrils to pull him down to the source. It wasn't long before a mass of tendrils and eyes came into view, every pupil focused on him.

Ẏ̢̺̱̙͈̼̺͑̍̋̋͢͟͞͞ͅO̶̧̗̟͍̬̖͎̱̐̔̆͗̈ͅU̦̻̤̠̺̘̼̬̱͍̓̊̃͋͂́̚͘ Ä̷̖̠̬̞̳͉́̿͑͊͌̽̈́͑̚͡R̸̨̧̠͍̩̻͙̖̋̈́̉̀̈̅͊͘͜ͅE̵̯̞̦̲̓̈́͂̔̀̔͐̕̕͘͢ A̝͍̣̖̽̒̈́̓͆́͢ F͎̞̠̮͕̳͂̽͗̾͆͛̕ͅỎ̠͎̫̪͚̤̙͖̜̖̽͌̚O̧̞̪͍͓͇̯͆̓̑̋̅͜͟ͅL̟̮̟̼͔̳̊̅̃̚̚͟͠ T̷̢̻̤͙̬̔̃̌̑̂̏̊̋Ȍ̮̮͕̜̜̫̫͆͘̕͝ C̴̨͔̯̙̲̐̓̔͑͟Ḩ̶̳͎̻̗̟̼̀̆̐̏͢͞A̴̧̝͇͔̗̟̤͙̹̅̓̑̒͢Ĺ̠̫̫̟̩̖̳̮̏́̽͊͟Ḻ̭̤̞̼̇͌̈͊E̴̻͍̰͈̩̘̿͋̈̑͂͟N̻̪͇͚͑̇͊̓̃̃͋̕̕͟G̨̧͙̹̥͚̮̩͖̫͆́̍̌̓̂͞͝͠E̶̺͓̞̹͈̿̅̋̔̍̋͒͋̕ U̶̺̞̣͖̩̳͊̿̊̉̓̉͘̚͝S̡̛̤̥̣̒̉̈́͌̊̚͞

Karkats head was suddenly filled with poison again, his body shaking as every word resonated in his bones.

"Why are you doing this?! We won!"

 

Ȳ͚̤̺̹̗̽̽̎͢͞O̷͖̬̯̤̤̬̹̾̓̌́̏͢͞Ư̵̘̱̳̩̱̻̥͓͛͒́ W̷̻͓̝̬̝̳͍̜̺͈͗̌͑͗̊̇͘E̷̟̖͖̪̠̱̍̆̓͗̒͘͘͜͞Ŗ̴̣̝̳̬̱̮̺̪̿̄̏̓̄͜E̵̢̮̫̩͔͖̙̻̱͊̓͛̂͑̊̉̎͘͠ͅ N̵̜̞͙̝̯̣̩̣͚̝̾̋͑̈͑́͌E̛̤̤̼̟̥͗͐͐̍͟ͅV̸̨̨̝̼͔̪̏̂̾̃̏͑͐̎̇͡ͅE̛̬͈͙͉̳̒͒̎͂̍̈͂̋R̶͖̳͙̞̞͍͋̃͌̑̐͊̕͡͠ M̬̭͙̊͛͛̇̿̅̕̕͟͟͝Ę͚̺̭̯̳̞̍͒͊̓̈́̚͢͝͡A̛̝̞̞̤̩͗̾̍͗͛͌͛̚̚N̷̢̪̮͍̲̲̝̊̏̈̍͛͘̕͝͞T̯̮̞̰̩͆̓̊̐͗͒̄͛͘͝ T̢̨̡̹̬͕̺̗̑̂͐̌̓̒̀Ǫ̨͎͇̬͙̪̘̿͗͛̄̂͢ S̨̛̝̫͙͚̅́̈́̄̂́̇͋͟͟U̸̹̳̝͇̠̩͆͒̍͆͛͛͛͝Ç̙̮̗̝̣̻̐͐̃́̎͟͜͞C̵̢̦̜̦͍̹̤̀̔̎̽͢͝͞Ȩ̺̟̤͕̹̀́͐̔͋̅E̙͕̘̯̙̝͈͇̠͋̒̍͛͌͘D̢̖̟̪̼͙̓̽̿͘̚͘ͅ

 

"What?! But we killed Lord English! John opened the door!" Karkat argued, trying to fight the darkness clot his arteries and lungs.

 

Ị̵̻̻̻̭̱̭̞͔̼̋̌̅̈́̚Ṉ̴͚̹̪̳̰̦̎͌́͗̈́̿̈̅͟͡͡Ḑ̡̛̛̞̜̩͙̺͌͋̔̓͛̔͊̚͟͜͢Ḛ̵̡̩̙̖̏̓͂̀̐͋̕ͅĘ̢̬̣̻͈̣̠͎̄̿̃͑̆͡͠D̰͍̰̣̬̉̈̽͋̓̿̓́͝ͅ Ỳ̡̺̙͉̲͖̩̒͊͑̋͗͋̾̑O̴͚̦̫͙͔̬̼̞̜̍̉̓͒͐̿͆̀͆͊Ű̡̳̯̖͕͊͗̆̅͋̇͢͠͝ D̯͍̝̟͙̒̓̆͋͜͝I͓̣̬̯̺͂̅͒̈̏̈̆̔͡ͅD̴̡̙͖͖̻͖̎̐̽͌̅͌̕͝,̵̢̛̝̰̞̬̺̓́̍͂̀͘͢ K̶̨̬̼̝̝͎͆̆̂̋̋͐̀̉Ņ̥̖̥̟͖̒̂̐̔͠I̡̘̜̬̮͎͕̟̊͋̎̉̎͘͟Ġ͎̺̖͖̙̬̓̋̀̕̕͟͠H̸̛̼͔̭̲̦̞̄̉͗͢T̷̫̝̙͉̠̮̍̊̇̂̏ O̸̡̡̱̝͉͚̍̑̈́͐͒̂͢͠ͅF̶̲̟̻̝͎̋̎͑͐̇͘̕ͅ Ḅ̵̬̜̟̻̱̾͆̄̄͂̔͜͢L̢̛̼̲̩̈͛͐̂̿̊̄̓̽͟͢Ǒ̮̩̬̠̙͇͍̺́̒͒̌͋͘͡Ö̶̘̦͍̩͍̑̂́̾̔̓͆͌͡D̸̨͍̰͇̳̝̻̰͌̅͘͟͡

̵̛̲͈̝̭̻̙̦̝͇̭̽̾̿̌̊̈͡B̥̦̞̙̤̄̀̑͂̐̚͘͡ͅU̶̟͉̰̳̹̖̰̲͕̇̏̋͂̚͠T̢̡̠̜͇̗̯̮̎̓̽̾̆̃͝ Ţ̷͈̼̺̖̜̣̈́̇̇͒̐̑͢͜ͅH̡̼̭͉͉̭̣̜̘̦́͒͂̀̔͡͞E̸̯̹̠͓̯̻͔͓͇̫͋͗͛̓̍͑̂̿̈ S̝̞̼̠̹̖̖̥̈̌̍͛̇E̡̟̫̞͖̦͂̊̍̂̚͜͢͟S̨̱̦̺̤͉͇̱̬̤̓̽̆̽̒̌̎̑͞S͎͙͔̟̩̱̰͔̯͋͆̉̍̽I̛̛̙̺̖̙͕͚̩̠̅͂͑̓̅́͘O̠͙̭̩͛͊͌̀͡͡ͅN̡̛̞̥͕̍́͆̒̇͜ W̢̺̥̤̱͍͑͒̑̔͐̅͋̈́͑͢A̸̛̛͕̠̘̣̜̹̦̘͋͐̏͑̏̎͢͡S̸̡̛͉̻̠̩̱͉̮̠̳̑̍̔̐̒͌ F̴̤̺̳̗̬̋̃̽̌̏̊̓̓͒̕Ḻ̷̳͉͚̰̺̓̒͑̀͞A͕̯̣̖͚̜͖̹̹̐̄̓̋͛̌̍̚W̵̢̗̲͇̝̠̓͌̀̐́͂͝Ę̶̰͙̖̥͗̒̅̑̌͐̕͘D̢̜̮̗̻̲̍̊͗͋̕͟

"Then why don't you-" Karkat had tears in his eyes, from both the pain, and what he was thinking. "Then why don't you just kill us all?! Just put us out of our misery!"

 

W̸̟͎͕͚̱̘̗͗̔̈́͌̌͜͝Ę̧͈͈͉͓̃͆͑͐͌͜ͅ F̴̡̳̪̩͑̀͌̏̎̎͘͢Ē̸̢̙̙̤̬͎̑͐̇͞E̶̢͕̣͇̗͖͆̒́̒̈́̓͡D̨̡̻̣̪̬̲̰͐͊̎̋̄̑̓͛͘ Ơ̶̩͚͇͕̥͙̮̎̒͊̔͘N̴̘͕̲͇͔͕̽͑̆́̂ͅ Ÿ̨͓̮͚̤́̈̆͆͗̄̃͝͞O̶͕͇̠͈̝̲̩̞̔͊̾̿̃͟U̡̺͚̹̠̘̿̈́͋̓̐͋̋̆͢͞͡Ŗ̶̛̤̪̗̹̤͚̯̈́͋̂͝ M̷̜̞̳̻͛̒͊̽̐͘͘ͅḮ̵̛̥̲̣͓͖̮̩̣̃̐̓̕͘S̴̢͎̦̺̪̗̞͓̥̃̀̉̔͐̒͝E̢̪̲̳͚͔̺̰͛̌́̚Ŗ̶̯͇͚̝̖͙̜̦͗̽̋͐͠Y̖̺͎͔̖̗̥̩̪̏̈̓̓̃̐͟͠͡

Y̴̛̺͉̯͖̥͚̎̍̊̚͘͝͠Ǫ̷̥͍̗̖͔͎̍̓̋͊̃̋͟Ų̷͕̲͙̩̰̼͍͇̔̇̃̒̋͆͋͘͢ A̰̩̹̱̖̳͋́̽̾̀̍̅̕͟ͅR̢̨̡̡̛̰̭̺̦̽̎̏̽̈͛ͅḘ̵̛̲͖̗̮̳͐͌̿͆͗͋̿͜ F̶̢̯̲̘͉̰͙͕̩̔͑̂́̍͊̋̆͂͠O̷̬̪̯͖̝̬̊̄̄͘͝D̢̨̛̮̠̘͍͙̱̮̎̆̑̽̔̋̄͐D̷͍̜̟̲̳̹̀̍̏̂̎E̢̹͚̠͉̤͒̆̇̿͠͝R̡̭̗̦̺͎̼͇͗̔͆͆̈́̃͐͠ͅ Ņ͓͉͈̠̝̆̌̄͋̈́͆̓̚̚Ő̠͚̼͕̠̞͍̟͍̀͊͑̎͋̿͘͝W̶̨̡͉͔̭̦̠͂͗̀̓͛̕͢

̡̭̜̰͔̙̟̏̌̓͜͞C̢̯̠̬̞̼͋̃͂̈́̒̅͆̄̕̕A̵̡͚̱͇͑̈́͌͊͘͟͜T̛̪̥̪̦̟̝̞̞̥͊̓̆̓͜͡Ţ̸̛̯̪̗͗̍͑̔͢L͚͚͖͖̻̰̽̓͊̓̏͐̍͘͜͟͢͡E̶͔̼̬͇̒͂͊̀̇̑̐͐͐ͅ F̸̞̞̯͙̬́̃͑̃̇̍Ǒ̸̡̟̟͙̹̞̱͎͗̐̉̆R̛͎̭̣̞͐̓͆̍͘͟͠͠ T̴̨̢͔̮̹͍̻̼̬̯͆̂̾̉͐H̨̡̗͉̟̿̏̓̏͌̇͞Ĕ̴̢̨̱̯̙̫͖͓̊̄̎̊ S̫̮̫̗͉̞̙͓͂̑̎́̒̄̄̚̚L̷̨̛͓̩̣̞̲̰̺̉̇͛̆͂̚͢A̬͔͍̮̗̋͂͑́̅̎̒̈͡U̴̝̰̩̝̖̬̻̟͗̌̊̍͡G̸̗̲̻͇̬͂̀̐̃͋͒̄͝͠H̢̛̛̹̦͍͎̣̳͓͆̓̐̒̓̉͟͠T̩̼̠̙̹̹̿͂̋͊̈͒̃̚͟͢͞E̵̢̠͕̺̩͎̱̮̠̪̿̐̔͛̓͘͞R̴̡̯̯̞̮̮̙̘̟̅͆̿̈́͂͊͊̕̕

 

"No! This isn't-you're not supposed to-we won!" There was an icy slime on his skin.

 

Ḧ̵̨̖̺̰͖͈̜͐͆̑̄̀̑͘U͇̞̦̠̩̙͒̈́̋́̓ͅS̡̙̯͔̙̮̪̺̝͑͑̈̇́̎̽̀͟H̞̯̲͎͖̦͚̣̤̹̾͗̈̇̾̚͝͝ Ņ̜̼̥̼̔̔̆̄̚͟͝Ò͓͇̱̹̭̾̇͒̂̕̚W̧̫̦̥̱̓͒̿͛͒̔,̟͕̠̲̰͕̥̦͈͉̋̉̔͐̉̋̊͐̎̄ K̛̥̰͚̹̣̙̹̳̟͈͊̋̆͛͗͝Ñ̴̮͇̞͖͖͔̘͐̾̈́̑̈̅̐͢ͅI̵̡̧̱̫̙͉̜̪͚͆̓̇̿͛̽̂͛͋͜͠G̵̡̟̩̥̼̺̜̃͛̒̈̃͠Ĥ̢̡͚̲͎̰͇͓̭́̈́̀͑̏̽̈͠͡Ţ̤͍̱̳̱͊͊̓̽͡

̷̟̮̤̞̺̭̊̈́̾̑͌̑̿̚͘͘Ÿ̨̡̛̹̮̐͑͐̆͗̅͋͢͡Ǫ̴͙̗̗̼̂̋́͒̄̓̊̽͗͟Ṵ̡̤̹̪͕̘̯̲͋͐̍̏̿̚͟ A̪̦͇̹͌̑̂͐̿̉̚͜R̵̡̯͖̙͖̬͙̝̔͐̋͗͐̉͐̅͠E̬̗̰͍͚͛͊̽̇́ T̸̡͎̻͓̰̟̊́͛͐̇̋͝ͅO͓͚̰̠͂̍̊̈̽͜ R͚͈͖̤̣̯̠̝̙̃̐͊̀͊̕̚̕E̷̛͇̬̳͕̻̘̟̩̅͋̇̃̅̅̾̕͢͡T̡̺͎̲͕̯̍͐̉̿̒̽̕͜U̺̟̙̠̱̳̅͛̎̆͆̕͝Ṙ̶̡̰̤̤͈̞͚͚̌̍̂͂̅̈́̚͟N̢͎̫̥̖̺͔̞͖̫̐̂͛͐͊͘͞ T̬͙̱̣̟̹͓̽̅̔͗̄̎͑̾͟͝Ở͍͈͇͓͇̭̳͌͐̏͂̏ Ỳ̸̞͈͕͕̗͒͂̂͢͠͝͝͡O̳̤̬̹̤̝̺̮̹͛̐̊̾͞͝͞U̢̻͎͈̱̩͉̖͙͛͛̌̂̈́͑͘Ȓ̯̝̙͇̫̈́̃̃͟͠ W̨͈͙͖̠̦̼̺͌̆͊͊͂̔͗́͘͘͜O̰̞̣͇͖̍̔̈́͋͂̾͌̚͜R̦̲̩̦̮̀̿͊̅̂L̻̹̻̼̾͐͗̿̚ͅḐ̧̟̦̦̟̥̰̬̑̆́̐͋̌̕

̵̰̝̰͖̬̜͌͜͠͡D̢̺͍͖̫͗͋͊͑̽̽̒͝͡Ó̵̧̮͚̙̜̻̫̻͋͋̑ͅ N̢̛̤̤͖̙͔̒̾͛̚͞͝O̸̡̼͕͈̖̦̩͖̝̞͆͑̀̓̊̚Ţ̞̖̱͚͋͐̂̏̑̏̾̔͡ R̶̬̘̳̘͖̫͍͎̘͆̄͒͛̍͗̈͘͢E̵̡̥̯̝̩̫͒̉̇͊͛͊̆͂̕͢Ś̹͔͔̪̝̞̜̟͊̀̂̾̎͛̋͠͞Ì̴̛̖̟͇͇̻̭̬̼̞͛͐͆̈̄̑͜S̸̢̰̞̟͍̺͓̺̽̀͆͂̌͢T̴̨̗͖͈̙̔̉̽̋͒̈̓̃͋̍ Ä͍̙̳͙͓̮̭̦̫͖̋̌̀͛̄͞N̡̛͔͓̫̟̣̘͛̂͒̚͝Y̛͙̹̣̼̤̥͍͕̻̌̾̂̿͗̍͒͞ F̷̪̞̟͖̜̒͆̿̐́̈́͞Ŭ̸̬͉̫̬̺͇̮̪̌̅̍̽͗̇̚͜͠R̵̠̤̳̙͔̗̲̰̀̒̓̅T͉̖͍̥̮̲͛̏̑̆̄̅͞͞Ḥ̛̙̞͚̂͛̇̔͑̎̑͢͡Ë̶̺̰̦̜̳͈́̅͋͆̏̾͠R̡̝̟͍̟͙͍̰̖̎̽̆̓̿͜

 

Karkat felt his body rip apart, limbs dissolving into space and time. The troll let loose a guttural cry before the scraps of his body faded out into the universe.

 ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis flinched against the bed straps, thrusting his body around in a panic, screaming.

"No! Nonononononothis-this isn't-we won-I" He screamed hysterically, struggling as much as he could with the little space he was given.

"Come on Kurtis. I can't unstrap you if you're volatile." Jade said, arms crossed impatiently.

"Jade! You remember right?! You remember Jack Noir, and-and the frog and Bec?! Right?!" ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis begged, Jade pausing for a second before ra̧҉̶̢ņ̧͘͢d̨̧̢̨͠o̡m̷͟͠l̶̴͜y҉͡͝҉͝ ҉̡̢t̴̶̛͘͟w̴͢i҉t̵̶͘c̨̢͞͡͏h̸̸͢i̕͟͝n͢g͡.

"Calm down before I call Dave!" Jade snapped, her raised voice crushing the ~~trolls~~ boys hope. Jade saw that he suddenly became less energetic and approached him, beginning to undo the bed-buckles "And it's _nurse_ to you, not Jade. I am NOT your friend."


	2. Tentacle Therapist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on 29-6-19

As ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis was lead into the cafeteria for the first time, he couldn't help but notice how grim the place looked. Everything was either black, grey or white, with the hallway walls impossibly claustrophobic. In the cafeteria there were giant metal tables bolted down, and a prison-like assembly line for food, dull light spilling down from the windows littered on the walls and ceiling. From what he could see, the outside world was practically as monochromatic as the interior, with dead trees and a grey sky.

Searching around ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis could barely recognise his friends, only able to register them by specific features such as ~~Tavros'~~ Travis' wheelchair and ~~Terezi~~ Theresa sitting next to Dave. ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis decided to sit next to ~~Terezi~~ Theresa.

"Dave," ~~Terezi~~ Theresa asked meekly, moving her head around as ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis sat down with his tray, her unusual red hair moving with her. "Who is that?"

"It's...uh...Kurtis Valdez." She took a moment to register the name.

"Kurrr-Wait a minute...Karkat?! Karkat is that you?!" ~~Terezi~~ Theresa pleaded, feeling around until she held his face in her hands, finger tracing his soft skin.

"Y-yeah. It's me." He muttered quietly, looking down at the table.

"I've missed you so much. How are you holding up?"

"How am _I_ holding up?" ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis blared, almost sounding offended. Dave rose up from his seat, readying himself for the probable apprehension of ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis. "Terezi how are _you_ doing? You're in an objectively fucking worse condition!" Dave sat down again, watching ~~Karkats~~ Kurtis' every move like a cat.

"Karkat, I'm...handling the situation. I'm just a little worried about you." She said, spooning porridge into her mouth, the spoon hitting the corners of her lips a few times before finally entering her mouth.

"I'm doing fine-well as fine as I can be in this situation I guess." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis looked into her blank eyes, the iris and pupil white and glossy like milk. "What's your..."

"Human blindness like? I could feel you staring."

"Yeah. Humans can't smell and taste like you did, and you have no dragon mom to help you." Dave almost spat out his drink at the phrase 'dragon mom', putting his hand over his mouth and swallowing before setting his cup down and coughing.

"Like I said: I'm handling it." ~~Terezi~~ Theresa put a playful arm around Dave "Luckily for me I've got the cool kid to help!"

"Alright Theresa, you know you're not allowed to touch the merchandise." Dave warned calmly, slipping from underneath the ~~trolls~~ girls arm. ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis looked at Dave with melancholic eyes for a moment before leaning over the table and whispering to ~~Terezi~~ Theresa.

"Doesn't this kind of...weird you out?" He asked.

"...A little. He doesn't remember anything. But I'm going to build up the friendship again-"

"What?!" ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis rasped, ~~Terezi~~ Theresa giggling a little.

"Are you scared I'm going to steal your _man_ , Karkles?" She chuckled "Don't you worry your cute little head. I'm going to gain his trust, and then make him believe us."

"...If you're sure, Terezi." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis sighed, pulling his head away and sitting in his seat, suddenly noticing that ~~Terezi~~ Theresa, Dave and him were the only people not sitting in a huddle on the back two tables.

"Why aren't you sitting over there, with everyone else?"

"They don't want to sit with me because of Dave." ~~Terezi~~ Theresa sighed, her voice not as sad as ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis had expected it to be. "You can sit with them if you want, tell them about the plan, I won't mind. It'll be good for you to find out who everyone is and how everyone is doing."

"But-"

"Just go, Karkat, or I'll have Dave smite you." She said, even as a human retaining a toothy grin.

"There will be no smiting on my watch." Dave joked, his words fading as ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis grabbed his tray of grey porridge and walked over, a ~~troll~~ boy with blonde hair and glasses languidly waving at him.

"'Thup KK." He lisped. Obviously it was ~~Sollux~~ Sullivan. ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis looked up at his eyes as he sat down, noticing that one was a brownish red colour and the other was a bright blue.

"Woah...Sollux your human eyes look so weird..." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis said almost wistfully.

"Jeezth KK, I knew I wath thexy but calm yourthelf."

"Shut up 'Tholluxth'." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis mocked, stirring his increasingly unappetising porridge.

"Apparently his name is Sullivan now." ~~Aradia~~ Ariel-Dia added, seeming absolutely fascinated with the bland human food in her bowl.

"Yeah, what'th up with that? You know, the human nameth." ~~Sollux~~ Sullivan asked absentmindedly. ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis leaned in close to the ~~trolls~~ girl and boy opposite him.

"Last night I had a dream where I talked with the horrorterrors and they told me that this is a doomed session." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis whispered "Apparently they're 'feeding on our misery'."

"Woah...that'th..."

"Yeah, I know. We need to escape-take down the horrorterrors or at least strike up another deal." As ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis spoke, a ~~troll~~ girl with long blonde hair and a white eye patch walking over, holding her tray in one hand.

"I heard talk of escape, I'm interested." ~~Vriska~~ Veronica asked, placing her tray on the table but not sitting down.

"Hi interested, I'm Aradia!" ~~Aradia~~ Ariel-Dia joked, the ~~troll~~ girl clearly not amused, more confused than anything.

"Wait, _You're_ Aradia? I thought _she_ was Aradia!" She exclaimed, pointing to another ~~troll~~ girl, who was a little shorter and slimmer as well as more muscular looking, her long, curly hair a lighter brown with coils less tight.

"Nope, I'm pretty sure that I'm me!" She chirped.

"Well whatever! What's the plan? I need to get out of here."

"Why?" ~~Aradia~~ Ariel-Dia asked, her question seeming genuine. "I think we should stay here for a while, do some snooping and seeing what will hap-" ~~Vriska~~ Veronica grabbed the rim of the nightgown with her remaining arm, pulling ~~Aradia~~ Ariel-Dia up, ~~Sollux~~ Sullivan and ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis stepping back.

"Hey!" Jade yelled from across the room, storming over to the tables. "No physical contact!"

"What the FUCK did you just say?!" ~~Vriska~~ Veronica snarled, shoving ~~Aradia~~ Ariel-Dia into a wall, the ~~troll~~ girl smiling gleefully at the challenge and shoving her down onto the metal table. This just made ~~Vriska~~ Veronica angrier, who then kicked ~~Aradia~~ Ariel-Dia up, the well-placed blow giving her an opportunity to punch her in the jaw.

Suddenly the two were pulled apart and pinned to the floor, ~~Aradia~~ Ariel-Dia smiling sweetly as ~~Vriska~~ Veronica practically frothed with rage.

"Oh hey, Jade! How's it-" As ~~Aradia~~ Ariel-Dia spoke, Jade quickly grabbed her hair and slammed her face into the ground, the girl instantly plunging into unconsciousness, rousing a few screams and gasps of shock from the ~~trolls~~ patients, Dave and ~~Terezi~~ Theresa whispering to each other.

"Don't fucking call me by my name patient!" Jade growled. Dave practically jumped out of his seat, rushing over and pulling Jade off of ~~Aradia~~ Ariel-Dia, John gently lifting up ~~Vriska~~ Veronica. "Two weeks in solitary, for both of you."

As Dave and John took ~~Aradia and Vriska~~ Ariel-Dia and Veronica out of the room, the unconscious girl over Dave's shoulder, Jade stood in the centre of the room, a notepad in her hand seemingly manifesting out of nowhere.

"So without any further interruptions I would like to announce that today you'll be having your first recreational time!" Jade announced, the ~~trolls~~ patients practically getting tonal whiplash. "From now on from 9 am to 12 am and 5 pm to 7 pm you'll have access to the recreational room in between work, therapy, bathing and sleeping. Any questions?" There was a silence before Jade huffed and walked over to a confused ~~Terezi~~ Theresa, grabbing her arm and pulling her up. As she did, Dr. Lalonde walked in with a clipboard. "Dr. Lalonde! Who are you taking this morning?"

"This morning it will be..." She looked down at her clipboard. "Kurtis Valdez." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis turned to look at ~~Sollux~~ Sullivan before sauntering over to Rose, following her out as Dave and John walked back into the cafeteria.

 

\--

 

Rose's office was warmer than the rest of the institution, the radiators that clung to the lavender walls always on the highest setting. The intense heat was actually comforting as it reminded ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis of Alternia, making the ~~troll~~ boy wanting to curl up in a recupracoon full of fresh sopor slime one last time. ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis sat down on the plush, black lounge, Rose taking her seat on a white egg chair after retrieving a fresh notepad and pen, crossing her legs and resting the notepad on her knee.

"Before we begin I would like to say that you are to answer all questions honestly, there is no judgement here, do you understand?" Rose asked, ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis nodding. "Good. So tell me about yourself."

"I won't be...punished or whatever, right?" He asked meekly.

"Of course not, Kurtis. And all of this is confidential so you have no need to be shy."

"Ok," ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis sighed. "My name is Karkat Vantas. I'm about 9 sweeps old and I'm a mutantblood."

"A mutantblood you say." Rose said with an entirely serious facial expression, continuously writing on her pad. "Tell me about that, if you will."

"Well, me and all the other 'patients' are actually trolls from Alternia, but somehow the horrorterrors turned us human to 'feed on our misery' or whatever dumb shit. Anyway, when we were trolls we had this thing called a hemospectrum, and because my blood colour wasn't on the hemospectrum, that makes me a mutant."

"Sorry if I seem to be repetitive but, can you explain this 'hemospectrum' you and your friends are on?" Rose inquired, ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis noticing that her eyelids seemed to twitch ever so lightly as he spoke more.

"It wasn't just the other 'patients' on the hemospectrum, it was an entire planet of trolls. And the hemospectrum it's..." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis sighed "An outdated system based on blood colour and life span. It's 11 colours that go from burgundy to fuchsia, but my blood is-was a really bright candy red, meaning I wasn't on the hemospectrum...which kind of put a target on my head, especially how my ancestor 'The Signless', who tried to overthrow an entire intergalactic empire with his cult."

"That is a lot to unpack, Kurtis." Rose stated, still diligently scrawling away, eyes continuing to twitch. "So, you say that you're not a troll now?"

"Do I look like a troll?" ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis snapped, immediately feeling guilty despite Rose seeming unphased.

"Well...do you?"

"Oh yeah...you forgot." He muttered sadly. "No, I don't look like a troll anymore." Rose ripped out a page in her notepad and handed it to ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis with her pen.

"Do you mind drawing me a troll?"

"Well, we all have different horns and blood colours and stuff, sooo..." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis said quietly, holding the pen and paper out for Rose, who didn't touch them. "And if you really want a drawing you should ask Nepeta, she used to do this 'shipping wall' thing and draw all of us so she could probably make a more accurate-"

"Nepeta? I'm not asking Nephele to draw, I want you to draw what you looked like, I can ask Nephele later." Rose said, taking another pen out of her pocket for her to write with.

"If you say so." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis sighed complacently, beginning to draw.

"So while you do that, tell about your 'ancestors' 'cult'." Rose asked, sliding another pen out of her pocket.

"Well...um...You know how on Alternia there was the hemospectrum? He fought against it with love and equality because he didn't want anyone to be culled anymore." He murmured, his thought process preoccupied with the drawing.

"And how did this affect you?"

"I guess it's the reason I lived to pupate. The cult set me up with a lusus and a hive because otherwise I would be killed as soon as they saw my blood."

"Did you know your ancestor personally? Was he a parental figure to you?"

"Never met the bulgemuncher. He seems cool but he died centuries before I was hatched. I was raised by my lusus."

"Lusus?" Rose inquired once more.

"Geez, I forgot humans didn't automatically know about this stuff! It feels weird explaining this again." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis handed the drawing over to Rose, who tucked it into her notepad to continue the conversational flow.

"In fact, I have been meaning to ask," Rose began, her tone sounding more serious despite the fact her eyes were practically bursting as her thread-like veins were seemingly plucked from their stitches. "You and your-your friends claim to know me and the other workers here personally, yet me and the nurses have no memo-we have no memory of you outside the hospital."

"That's what we've all been trying to tell you! I know it sounds insane but-" ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis calmed his voice down, exhaling slowly, Rose holding the tip of her pen against her pad in anticipation. "We were all friends. Hell, you and Kanaya and me and-...but we all met through playing a game. A game that killed us, some more than once. We managed to kill Lord English and complete the game but, we were a doomed session, so now for some fucking reason the horrorterrors are-" Rose cried out in pain, holding her forehead in her palm.

"Doctor Lalonde!" He gasped, springing off of his chair and trying to help Rose.

"Y͘͝o̵͢҉̨u̷̷ ̛͡are maͤ̂̂͒d͊̒ͬ̏." Rose said, sounding as if another voice was speaking through her like a puppet, a familiar and bone shaking voice. Her eyes flooded black, as if her pupils had burst in her skull, and ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis stood back in horror.

"R-Rose?" He stammered.

"Y̴̕҉o̢͡͡͝u͠ ̵̶҉̸͢a̸̡͜͜͞r̷̡̛͜e̡͠ ͡͏r̵̛͝ę̨͟͡s̸͞͏҉i̴̧̧̡̛s̵̷͢͞͞t̵̴͜i̶̛͏n̸̨͏g̷̛." ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis could feel his teeth rattle in his face.

He could ŏ̸͈̝̦̭͌̀̒̆̓̏̒͜n͙̱͍͎͍͓͋̔̍̏̀̒̀͐l̶̨̨̥̳̹͎̭͓̋̄̃͒͜͢y̧̻͔͇͚̌̀̒̆͒͒̕̕͘ͅ i͕͇͉̥̫̍͑́͑̉͘͝m̴̡̤̥͔͕͕̼͎̆͆̏͋͘͡ǎ̬̰͙͔̬̮͕͓̈́̄̅̿̋ͅg̴̨̡̟̥͓̎́̃̉͛̚͟i̸̢͎͓̗̱͉̦͕͙͍̊̄̀̾͒̽͞͡n̷̡̛͕͖̬̰̺̖͖͒̂̐̇͠ȩ̻͓̗̳̳̤̝̳̗̃͋̐̈̐̂̐̇͌͞ w̷̢̧̛̥̞̝̮̞̞̅͛̃͒͜ḣ̸̬̩̭̦͍̖͇͆͌̔͊͘͡͞͝a̶̠̪̹̠̖̲̯̓̈́͆̇́̓͡ṱ̯̗̯̪̹̥̂̄̎͋̕͠͞ ḩ̡̢̛͙͙̞͎̣̃̅̊͘͞͝͡e̵̥̗͉͓̝͓͛̀͐̎͊̎͑̕͢ w̸̨̡̨̩̬̜͈̙̥̐̓͒̾͑̋ą̸̡̣͈͍͙̩̊͒̃͛̆̋̊̓̐s̶̨̼̙̫̭͎̞͓̩͇̈́͆̋̚͝͞͞͞ p̡̞̹̠͓̑͑̆̋͟͜͠u̡̩͇͎̗̝͇̠͊̂̿̍̏̿̓t̵̢̞͍͈̫̮̙͖̞̏̋̅͌ť͐̾̇͡ì̢͔͙̙́̆̓͆͌̇̃͘ņ̛̹͎̫̫̯̎̊̌̽͑̕g̸̜͙̰̠̍͐̑̈͊͟͡͝͡ ḩ̴̢̛̖͖͓̮͍̪̩̞̅̎̑̔̎i̛̗̙̟͕̔̃̋̎͑̔͗͜ş̵̼̹̖̬̏̃͆̊̑͑̐͞ p̳̟̟̤̙͓͓̘̦̪̐̔̄̉̽̀͋̊̆ơ̜̖̯̥̰̝̒̌̽͒̍̈͘͡o̶̢͎̺̖̤̤̤̯̩͆͊̒̔̚̕͡r̦̣͚̺̫͊̇̒̾̊͠ͅ,̨̧̭͍͇̠̰̗̹͈̔̍͗̋́͠͝ p̵̛͓̹͙͇͖͎͉̐̅͌̀ͅǫ̷̮̬͙̜̹̭̦͗̔̍̈̾͜͢ǫ̤̼̦̲̱̐̎͋̀̏͂͘͡͠r̡̛̜͚̙̥̻̈̏̇̉̉̽͊͑̕͟ f̶̛͇̹͙̤̍̅͑̕͢͢͢r̡̨̤̙̎́̂̈́̚͜͡͡ị̶̦̯͎̩̈́̔̔̿̍͌̐̈́̽͜͡ͅe͓̻̝͇̻̠̠̓̋̂̋̉͋͐n̻͖̙̬͈̤̭̉̈̂̑̐͛͝͞d̨̨̢̧̥̞̈̀̃́̎̽͝͡ͅ t̴̨͚̥̫̺͕̖̖̥̓͊̇̂̃̏̕͞͝͡ͅh̨̹̣̺͍̞̳͒̇͒͆̓r̸̡̛̞͎̗̘̻͛̃͊͐̒̋̒͜͝o̷̝͇̣̳͚̞̭̼̰̤̐̿̃͛̆͘͡u̶͉̬͉̺̦̬̼̔̃̉̐̎̓͡ͅg̛͙̖̮͖̣̘̫̀̊̅̒̂͊͂̏͞h̜͕̣̝̪̭͊̓̓̎̾̃̚ͅ.

"Get out of my head!" He yelled, Rose's body rising off of the chair, sluggishly lifted up by the unseen tendrils that tethered her to that world like a marionettes shackles. ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis could see all the veins in her body.

"Yo̢͂̍̃̚ṵ̢̢̣̼̬̜̇͂̈́̅̔̈́͛̾̆ ş͙͉̥̰̔̎͌͊̋̎̍͜͟͞t̰̙̝̔̉͊̏͘r͆̌̃̿͡ȕ̔͆̇͘g̮̖̩͚̎̈́̅̀͆͆̉͘͞g̢̩̬̟̝̖̓͛͛̀̃̚͜l̞̥̠̯̦͕̤̗͂͆̑͐̄ͅę̷̛̲̯̠̤̜͈͇̰̙̐̏̀͘ a͚̗̫͚̐͊͆̽̌̋̍̆̅͜g̞̯̣͖͎̽̉̌̍̿̽́̚â͙̫͙͖̟̱̼͑͘͠͠i̧̼̫̻̖͉̳̲̎̈͐͛̾͋̐̕͟͝n͍̣̰̖̗͗̀̇͛͌̈́͞ͅṡ̟̰̹̜̱͚̜̥͍̈̆̐̀̿͘̕͢͞ţ̘͔̲̜̱͖̅̽͒͂͆̍͟ ṵ̫͆͒͂̂͂̿͜͢͠ͅs̢͔̬̻̝̰̘̻̈́͗̈́͒̈͊͞͠ l̵̙͓̻͓̟̋̈̂̎̾̚͜͞ĩ̧̞̯͚̯̈́͢͞͠k̷̮̳̜͕̼̝͕͑̉̔̑͢͠e̛̠̰͍̦̮̎͂͋̇͋͗ͅ a͍̩̻̻͖͐̒͊̏̓̌̚͢ͅ w̸̜̯̠̪̥̹̐̋̕͘͜͜͝o̱̰͓̱͒̾̈̒̚͢ȑ̴̛̝͎͇̖̆͋̽͂̅͋͘͜ḿ͇̤̹̱̲͈̝̹̅͗̎̄̋͢,͐̅̍͌͑͝ n̼̱͍͍̞̜͆̔̋̓̒͘͘͠ó̧̼̜̰̫̙͈̝͖̃͂̍̄͟͠t͎͇̜̆͒͒͑̕͞ͅ k̜̥̝̲̞͆͌̃̊͂ṉ̵̨̛͔̫̣͇͍̼̇̍̽͋̓̓͢ò̷̘̤̬̫̯͗͛̒̄̕͜w̵̲̼̯͇̦͉̽̍̀̇͛í̶̢̧̬̹͍̥̙̖̓̃̿͑͝n̵̡͓̤̗͎̬̹̠̹̥̈́̇̉̈́̎͐̽̒͘͠g̸͙͖͚̱̼̜̫̱̘̠̈́͋̂̒͂̊͝ t̙͇̦̜̮͕̹͊̂̊̆͛̈̈̆͝͡h̶̬̰̫̥̘̖͚̮̥̔͑͒̊̈́̚ä̖̫̤̰̺̳͕͚͍́̐́̑̾̚ͅt̨̨̠̣̥͍͓̫̯̬̒̌̎͠ y̸̛͖̹̪̭̯̱͑̽̾͂̃̅̚o̟̺̙̰̪͓͆̄̅̾̿̀̑̆̕͠ṷ͉̮͎̈̄̃̊̌͋̎͢r̴̺͇̖̗̥͙̬̥̿̓́̄̈͢͟ s̗̝͎̯̲̅̎̂͊̀q̡̨̛̰̫̭̮̭̼͇͙͐̏̒̏́̾̋͊̌ṳ̢̺̥̖̆̽͗̾̊i̮̖̗̿̀̌̽̏̚r̛̰̽̋̽̕͜͡m̶̫̲̠̰̳̤̋͑̒̔̈̃͘i͖͔̥̟̰͓̽̒͑̀͆́̂̒͡͡ṅ̸͎̝̩͕͉̳̫͓͙̒̌̎̏͞g̳̭̱͍͕̓͛̽͆̎̿͟ g̶͚̯͍̯͚̟͉̃̑͂̃̍̍͢͟i̵̞͕̣͍͔̋̎̎͛̂͂͘͞v̧̨͉̙̭̟̠̣͑̾̏̑̒́͞ȩ͓͚̜͓̳͉̃̉͐̓̍͘͞s̞̭͕̠̣̏͂̓̓̆̄͛̉͂͟ u̵̟̞̳͙̱͆͂̎͒s̶̱̗̥̯̜͓̮̺̖̐́͂͒̐͡ s̵̞̬͓̳̥̖̽͆̀̄̆̕ū͚̹͙̲̣͈̰̍͆̍̈̋͐̈́̈s̘̠̱͇̜͇̉͑͂̔̊̅t̨͕̥̭̤̔̽͐̀̐̑̇̃͠e̡̛̝̝͓̬̻͆̔͒̈̽͛͠ͅͅņ̨̛͙̦̩̲̟̣̃̇̑͐̍͒̇͜͝͡ͅa̡̤̮̦̲̝̣̯͂̿̉̇̌̈́̌̕͠n̢̻̘͍̜̮͂̊̄͂͛͝͞͝ç̴̨̢͖̱̞̼̺͎̏͋͒̈̚͡͝e̴̘̼͚̭͇̼͍̒͛̏̒͗̾."

"Can you hear me Rose? I'm going to try and help you!" He looked around frantically for something to use before just grabbing her arm and pulling her close to him.

There was electricity in her bones.

 ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis was met with little resistance as he pulled her down like a balloon, the ice in her skin climbing up into him.

There was barely a pulse.

He pulled her down further and straddled her to pin her against the black lounge, brushing her hair out of her face to see that her eyes were still black and that no breath seemed to escape her lungs.

"Rose say something!" He practically begged, shaking Rose but to no avail. "What did you do to Rose you infinite mass of writhing bulges?!" ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis snarled, the lack of reply making him angrier and panic more. Before he could cry out once more, Rose's body shrieked, the ungodly noise making the ~~troll~~ boy cover his ears and wince.

"Rose?!" John yelled, bursting through the door to see a patient straddling the therapist. "Kurtis! Kurtis that's-"

"John it's not what-we need to help her-" ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis blurted, trying to explain the situation as the nurse stormed over to him and yanked him off Dr. Lalonde to pin him on the floor, ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis catching a glance of a smirk on the girls face before her eyes faded from black to their usual shade.

"Jade, I need help in Rose's office." The nurse said into his walkie talkie, the machine crackling with static. "Kurtis assaulted Rose."

"No I was trying to-!" ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis yelled, struggling against John.

"I'll be there right away." Jade responded, the walkie talkie crackling once more before John returned it to his belt.

"Kurtis, I really expected b̷̷̡͡e͠͝t̶̛͟͝͝t͜e͘͘͟͠r̡̨ from you." He sighed. ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis hadn't anticipated Johns words to hurt as much as they did.

"You've gotta listen to me!" ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis yelled, tears pricking his eyes as John continued to pin him down. "John! I wasn't trying to hurt her, I wanted to help her! She was fucking possessed!"

"Kurtis please! Stop talking, you are not helping." Jade rushed in and gave ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis a glare that could melt steel.

"Rose! Rose are you ok? What did he do to you?!"

Rose was suddenly h̢̩̫͙͍̯͊̇͑͗̂̈̃̍͘͢͝i̥̰̫͙͓̅̽̂̕͞t͔̳̩͇̩̫̊̾̔͐̆̕ b̧̮͙̼̱͉̦̒̅̉̉̊̑y͚̻͕͈̤̳̭̤̽̐͊̕̕͢ â̶͕̟͚͍͓͔͔̈́̃̍̏̆̕͘͝ w̷̢̛̤͍̜̹̻͈̘͐͘͜͡͞a̵̺̠̺̼̭̟̰̳̍̎̂͆̈́ͅv̙̤͓͉̮͆̓̏͊͛̈̑̄͝ẹ̸͕̟̩̻̉̑̾̓͑̇̅͞ o̵̟͍̱̫̲͎͉̥̊͊͑́̐̊̽͆f̞̦͉̆̆͆̏̓̄͜͢ s̴̱͓̩̲̝͇̯̄̈̃̓̚͜͝͡i̬̲͈̣̟̟̞͑̅̓̌͒͑͜͡ͅc̶͖͖̯̮̰̬̠̝̹̎͒̀̂͋̍͜k͖̲̯̺͍̫̭̪̒̑̉̀̔͘n̷̨̳̺̳̯̬̠͈͌́͗̆͛͒̎̑̚͢ę̢̪͓̝̤͓͆̅͗̊̒͘s̸̡̢͎̫̻͖̜͔͋̍͌̈͑̿͂͗͒͢s̝̼̠̤̤̱̫̓̓̔̕̚ ă̸̙̤͕̗̄̾̑͌͜͞͝n̨̨̺̱̞̲̠͈͓̜̽̒̃͒̅̽̃̕d̢̺͙͓̟̊̀́͒̍̕͢͞ͅ f̴̡̢̧͔̫͎̲̖̆̏̔̅̊͑̆͒͘͝ē̴̘̞͍͚͈̘̇̈̆͑̀̐̒̚͠ă̴̘͖̯̠̲̹̺̓̒̋̍̇͋͝r̴̡̟͍͇̣̖͈̹̾̄̍̄͂̃̈͡͡͠ͅ,̵̬͉̱̹̩̦͔͛͆̎̀͂̉͘͟͝͞ m̧̥̪͍̹̆̄̌͑̽́͒̌͘̕͟u̵̢̧̘̹͈̩̯̼̓̇͐͗̓͑̊͠ṣ̴̨͓̹͖̜̭̑̉͌̂̓̕͟c̡̤͚͉͎͙̰̟̑͒̌̌͋̎͞ļ̢͔͚͍͈͍͙̏̿̽͆̎̆́͘͜ẽ̝̹̭̩̤̫̬͑͗̈͊͛͝͠ͅs̨̛̞͇̗̦̪͓̥̦͔̃̾͌̈́͒ ţ̶̡̧̧̭͍̜͆̉̐̌̏̇͌͢ě̸̙͍̘͔͔͕̫͉͔͐̉͛̔͟n͎͕̫̺̝͆̿̊̓̀̓͛͂̏ŝ̢̙̬̠̹͚͎͛̐̑̒͋͜͞e͍̱͈̠͊͌̎̈͐͋̄̚͝.

"Oh...uh, I'm-I'm fine." Rose muttered weakly, s̛̲̜͔̖̐̊̎͊̍̇͛͟ȏ͕̱̹̪̳͍̝̓͑̄͊̄̓̀͊̔ü̵̧̘̫̩̪̍̉̑͌̓̄͌͘͢͝n̨̼̦͖̮͉͉̓͐̕͞d̴̡̦͙̥̒͂̍̈̆̚̚͞ͅȉ̵̢͖̣͚̱̂̉̏̓̆͡͞n̼͙̘̼͓̻͈̮̒̑͌̇̔͠g̘͙͇̥̩̖̟̉̾̂̈́̉͑̌̃͘͘ ş̴̛͖̘͍͇̪̰̲̖́͌͒̌̐͟õ̡̥̩͇̲̊̋̏͂͊̆́̆͆͟ͅ ḟ̮͎̞̥͔̟̔̒̓͑͐̀̕r̸̨̡̡̛̪̼̜͈̹͆̿̅͋͂̃ͅá̶̧̙̺̮̜̜̦͚̊̌͌̌̈́̔̊̂̿i̷̫̰̼͈̩̹̯̔̃̈́̍͒̊̽͟͟ͅl̶̹̙̮̩͈̳̦̦̝̫͂̂́̍̌͊ a̵͚͖̗̻̣͈̦͕͑͂̈̌͐͂̀͠ǹ̛̤̞͙̞̺̪͚̄̊̕͟͝ͅd͚̳̰͎͍͋̃́̈́̅̔͆̓͞ h̡͓̱͕̥̾̈́͗͐̍ȅ̤̩͈͇̮̬̜̋͆̔̊̓̀͠l̛̖͕͖̳̆̍̏̋̌̈̚͟p̶̨̲̭̯̥͚̤̏̓͌̆̓̓̂͟l̵̛̗̝̙̺̜̯̣͈̽̄̾͋̾̓͋̕͜ͅe̸͙̻̠̗͉̞͒͐̈̽̕͝s̺͈͙̮̤̼̬̪͉͗̊͌̎͌̍͡͡s̴̯̦̜̠̞̣͈̖͕͑̓̃̉̈́͠ͅ.

Ẇ̛̟͎̬̣͓̬̔̄̈́̆͝͞ḩ̴̛̛̮̳̜̳̣̙͚̹̄̈́͆͗̃̕̚a̵̢͙̣̗͎͙̣͈̤̻̒̂͐̋̽͠͞͞ţ̸̢̳͇̲̈̇̑̅̽̾͞ ȟ̢̢̲̣̭̹̺̳̐̾̀͑̅͟͞ǎ̵̛̤̝͔͇̺̯͖̲̃̒͆̊͊͐̚͞ḍ̢̰̪̝͉͉̒̅͆͛͆̕ͅ h̼̦͔͈͍͉͇̎̃̎̒͒̂͊̂͘͞è̴̥̠͇̻̱̓̇̚͜͟͠ d͔̼̬̹̣̜̻͌̂̍͡ö̢̮̦̺͎̜̟̖̘̦͆͡n̝̜͚̻̜̳͈͙͛̆͗̽̀̍ẻ̡̖͍̺͓͕̩̎̾̿̇̉͘͢͢?

"Lift him up." Jade ordered, ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis feeling John's surprisingly strong arms raise him off the ground before Jade grabbed him too, pulling him out of the room, a twisted smirk on Rose's face causing him to scream and thrash.

"I'm going to make you forget what light looks like." Jade snarled.


	3. Facade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on 5-7-19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Suicide attempt, vomiting, vomiting into someones mouth, mentions of blood

She could no longer feel the pulse of time around her.  
That was the most maddening thing.

The infinitely ticking metronome stopped swaying, ~~Aradia's~~ Ariel-Dia's world silent without the song of seconds. It was so difficult to tell the time, the ~~troll~~ girl not even able to tell when she had drifted in and out of sleep. All of her humming and songs ran dry off her tongue. It was like she was dead again. She was powerless.

"How long are we going to be here?" She asked the darkness around her, her voice holding no fear, sadness nor resentment.

There was no reply.

"Can we make a deal or something? Like with the dream bubbles?"

Once more: no reply.

"What will happen if..." ~~Aradia~~ Ariel-Dia inhaled, holding her breath for a second before letting it join the abyss around her. "We die." She smiled.

She had already died once, and although it was never the most favourable solution, she needed to know what would happen. It was clear whatever forces trapped her and her friends there had no intentions of releasing them so she knew she wouldn't permanently die.

"Hey Vriska!" ~~Aradia~~ Ariel-Dia yelled, feeling in control again. Ḑ̗̦̤͙̙̬̭̩̗͂͗͗͋̅̉͞E̶̛̜͚̪͉͈̖͛̓͋̔̍̏͘͡ͅS̟̝͚̯͚̊̃͒̈̐͝͠P̵̻̮̻͉̹̠͇̟͐̀͒̊̌̂͢͡͠I̡̛̛̩͍̖͕̋́̋̎̂̂̒͢͢͞T̜͉̬͈̤̥̔̂̒͂̆̉̓̚ͅĘ͚̞̖͈͕̒̈͊̅͌̂̓͊͢͟͡ H̴̲̱̘̠̻͍̘̰̺́͊̈́̀̄͛͘̚A̴͇̣͓̦̦̘͖̖̩̍͗̓͛̅̌͛̿ͅV̙͍̖̹͎͕̔̎̇̋̐̈̇̏̽͘͟Į̤͍̯̤̏̽̊̋̔̀͛͘͝N̵͚̜͚̮̯̄̿͛͑̉̓̉̊̾̕G̢̡̝͈̘̗͉̗͒͐́̔̋͗̏̋͜͡͠ N̴̻͚͎̼̻͕̱̗͛̾͑̍͋͌̓̽̚͟Ơ̶̗̩̱͉̪̘̈̇̈́̌͆͌͆͜͡N̢̺̲͈̼̘̏̊̅͗̃͗̃͘͝Ê̡͓͇̣̲̩̯̏͐̈́̏̂.

"Shh! I'm trying to talk." She ironically felt alive again.

"What is it?" ~~Vriska~~ Veronica replied sadly.

"Say 'hi' to Sollux for me." ~~Aradia~~ Ariel-Dia requested. "Or I guess...'bye'." She shakily rose to her feet, feeling the cramped padded walls around her, ramming into it to see what would happen.

"Wait what?! Megido, what the fuck are you doing?!" As she stumbled back, she felt her long, curly hair wrap around her neck.

"I'm helping!" She chirped, flicking her head around to wrap all the hair she could around her neck before taking her coils in her teeth and _pulling_. She felt the thick strands of hair dig into her skin, her throat getting tighter until no air found its way into her body. Everything around her got more and more distant until she could no longer feel herself exist, jaw still clenched as the hair was fixed into place as she fell to the floor.

"Megido? Megido?!" ~~Vriska~~ Veronica's voice faded out, as Aradia truly found herself in the abyss.

"Will you listen to me now?" Aradia asked, finding herself in her godtier garb, as a troll again.

Ỳ̨̘̝̜̖͖̣̏̆̽͡O̵̼͓͕̺̗̞̩̤̐̐̄̽͊̚U̞̪̱̬̝̟̗̮̮̍̍̉̑̾͗͌̕ͅ A͙̮̺͙͙̹̥͓͐̽̽̀͒́̈̚͞ͅR̸͙͈̤̦̜̿́͛̐͌̂E̸̤̰̠̖̮̝̱͓̊͌̒̍̎̿̉͘͟ Ȁ̮̥͙̤̰̞͉̫̈̇̋͌̂̉̚͞ͅ F̡̺̹̺̲̫̋̆̑͗͆̂̊̚͠͞O̸̯̠͎̻̟̰̮̯͗́̆̓̅̄Ǫ̷͓͎͎̬̿̌̈́͛̄͛͒̆͘͠L̷͈͓̪̮͉͊̅̿͢͠͡ Ţ̡̘̺̥͔̺̔̏̿̅̽͜Ǫ̬̬̫̮̮̯͈͊̌́̃̓̚͘͜͞ T̴̢̠̠̘̲̗̉̔̈̌̈́̄̾̀͘͞H̨̙̞̯̳̥̬̬͛̀̐̆̀͋̎͊͝͠I̸̢͚̳̭̦̅̽́̀͡N̷̨͕͍͕̱͙̅̉̍̏̚̚̚͢͡Ķ̡̦̩͙͕̋͋̓̂̿͒͢ Ṯ͔͓̠͕̝̖̖͒̅̄̆̉̚͜H̴̯̜̦̣̞̞̞͖͙̏͆̌͋̌͒͊͂͝͠ͅĄ̴̪̫͍̣̜͎̍̊͊̀̎͢͠͠Ṭ̴̨̧͉̣͎̱͎̰͆̓̎̒̍̒̃͡ Ý̶͇̹͇͇̱̰̥̜̞̰̍̿̊̐͗̉̋̒̕O̴̢̟̺̳̠̫̘͋͆̎̌̚͞U̴̙̬̼̤̗̯̮̙̙̫͐͐͑͒̽̾͘ C̶͓͇̠̞̯̫͚͙̱͖͛̏̍̑͛̚͡͠Ä̷̢̳̯͉͈̰́̀̓͆͗͘ͅŅ̷͈̣̳̣͒͐̿͗̅̊͘ͅ Ě̷̟͇̮͕̪̼͓̪͉͆̾̇̾͜Ṡ̨̺̫̤̯̗͍͉̇͒̓̓̾͜͡͡C̨͚͇͕̯̹̪͓̠̿͗̈̅̈̽͞Ą̛̯̩͈̙͎̻̓̌̍̈͋̚͜P̠̻͕̯̤̠͎̽̓̓̑͂͗͗̅̚E̮̙̙̤̜͇̝̪̓̍̈́͐͆͊͒͜͡͞ͅ.

"You are fools to think you can keep us here!" She retorted, feeling more proud of the response than she knew was reasonable. She felt needles in her skin.

Y̶̧̳̤̜͈̣̥̹̅͒̐̆̍̏̈̆̽̚͜O̡͖̗͎̣̺̖̳͌̒̑̿̓͠U̡̞̤̺̭̜̤̖̣̒̇̍̾̆̏̃̿͒͢͞ K̢͍̹͍͎̮̹̋̾̍̀̇͊͐̎͟N̛͉̜̣̯͙̲͆̎̐̃̑̅̀̂͘Ȍ̪̼͇͚̲̞̣̔̓͜͡͡͝͝͞W̴̭̪̻̩̤̝̙̮̑̉̃̿̂̈̕͢ T̮̣̝͍͛̍̈́̏̉͂̑͜͞Ḩ̶͎͔̠̾̈̆̂̐͂͟͟͡Á̵͉͍̫̖̜͉̼̯̞͕͂̃̌̆͐̎͆͠͠T̶̨͚̻̲̩̙̽͆̆́̓̏̐͡ Ḋ̴̝͚̯͈̣͔̟͕͐̾͊̚̚͝͡Ȅ̢̜͍͓͛̓̋͑͟A̷͕̞̦͔̗̖̺͑̀̋̃̇T̵̜̮̠̰̾̓͛͆͒̓̈͜͞H̵̙̞̲̺̺̣̿̅̋͂̓͗̎̚͞ Ẇ̨̧̭̠͙̯̒͊͗̅̃͊̈́̚Ȋ͈̗͍̺͓͂̒̍͌͟Ḻ̝̩͓͎̞͎͆̅̇̀̎͒͞L̶̖͍͓͕̠͔̤̤̪͚͗̃̍͛͌͐͞ N̵̪͓̥͙͖̙̺͍̦̐̆̚͞ͅǪ̞͔͍̫̇́̊́̋̕T̢͚̥̦̪̱̜͓̓̓̌̑̕͘͜ B̶̹̱̼͈̗͕̪̌̑̌͛̌̕͜E̝̺̘͎̪̻͗̑͗̇̍͞͝ Y̸̢̛͍̥̜̝̥̺͉̑̓͆͗͛̇̀͘͢ͅÔ̷̻̖̰̻͍͑̍̈̉̕̕͝Ų̷̭͎̱̂̿̂̕̕͢Ř̴͓̠̙͍͙̟̠̣̯͚̒͌̌̐̎ S̴͕̩͕̠̤̰͇͍̻̭͛̒̄̊͘͠͝Ä̢͈̮̳͍̬͍̬͉̝͑̔̔̓̂̚͞V͕̖̻̠̠͒͑̆̈̀͊̑Ĭ̵͖̠̠̩̼͈̊̈́̍̐̍̎̓̓Ȯ̶̦̙͈̝̥̭̘̈̿̅̃̾͋̄͌͞Ư̯̞̝̖̞͓͋̐́̉̌́̔R̶̘̝͕͕͇̮͇̮͊͗̆̔̓͒̋̚͜͢͞͝.

I̸͈̠̺͎̩͕͋̅͆̚̚ͅF̷̨̡̥̭̮̬̝̳̲̖̈́̌̉̔͑̆ Ŷ̢̭̤̬͍͕͚̱͐̾͗̊̈́̚̕O̷̺͚̥͖̮̽̀̋̑̇̂͠Ư̶͍̺̣̣̖̗̤̈́̃̑͑̎͊͗͊ C̴̯͇͎̫̠̐̋̐̈̚̕O̙̤̮̫̘͗̄͗̂̇̽̕̚̕͜Ǹ̝̗̹̠̹͙̤͍͔̈́̋̃͜͝T̛̥͕̲͕͙̹͗̀̒̈̓̑̇̕͢ͅÎ̵̘̻͔̲̥̞͒̾͋̕N̷̡̟̲̳̮̏͋͑̿̄̍̕͟Ư̩̦̭͎͌́̾̾̇̚͟Ȩ̲̖̺̟͗̇̒̿͂͟͠͞ I͙̳̠͚̯̊̂̌̇̽͊̑̍T̢̫̪̱̞̔̑̓̈͛ W̴͙͉̹̐̀̋͗͒̅͗͟͢͡͝ͅI̷̥̬̮̱̗̦͈̗͂͛̏̅̓̕L̴͙̗̰̱͖͍̳͐̽̌̎̇́̃͡͝ͅͅL̠̟͉̞̱̙͉̈́̃͐́͞ͅ B̢̢̳͎͚̫͖̾̓̎́̑͠͠Ḯ̬̬̺̭̭̃̀̑̾͝͝N̡̧͕̮̙̫͂͗̇͐͊͢ͅD̴̞̺̜͍̻̥͔͊̋̽̈́͢͜͜ Y̨̻͈̥͈͓̺̗̍͂̎̐̚͠͞Ǫ̴̧̨̦̮̘̟̝͚̈́̔̂͊͘Ų̨͖̻̲̖͒́̅̌̍͑͢͠͠ I͕̯̬͇̹͐̉̏̋̐͘͜N̸̮̣̼͓͉̻̮̝̰̋̌͑͗͑̾͑̎͘ A̵̢͈̝̼̬̦͈̯̦̪͊̌̔͋͡ Ḻ̴̠̬͎͔̾̔̋̾̽̋̆̑̕O̟͈̰̼͆͐́͑̈́͢͡Ơ̧̳͍͔̖̝̎̉̈́̍̋͂̓P̵͉͔̹̦̣̪͚̈̊̓͂̏

"But! It will let me speak to you, maybe even get my point across?" Aradia smiled, the muscles in her face melting and fizzing.

Y̴̬͖͇̼̳̋̽͂̀̕͠͡Ö͇̟̜̼̬͇͎̟͎́͑͂͋̔͘ͅU̵̧͚̫̰͙̳̗͙̿̏̿͛̇̚ W̴̧͍̣̻͕͎̱͛̐̑͆̒̕͘͞I̥̣͈̪͍̽͆̃̔͂̎̏̚ͅL͈̺̭̳̻̠͔̮͚̔̑͌̓͢͝L̶̗̙̘̗̜̗̳͇̺̪̒̄̑́̄͑͝͞ W͙̳̰̃͐̒͋̿̌̄̚͢͢Ă̵̰̺̣̣̮̝̹̬͋́̃͂̿̇͒̕͞K̷̯͚̗̪͚͈̽̈̌͋̑̀̓͛͡͝Ě̬͈̘͖̟̲̥̄̾̄̓̽̈́̊͊͘ U̡̮̗̰͎͌̐̀̌͛̾P̛͍͕͕̯̮̆̍͊̅͘̚̕͜͝͡.̷̡̳̜̗̫́̅͛͊̓̌̕͘̕͢ Y̸̡̩̜̻̫̆̋͆̐͋̄̎͘͡O̧̫̲̥̞͎̤͗̊̾͆͗̒͠͡ͅỬ̸̦̹̞̬̰͖̓̎̇̈̓̒̐ͅR͉̟͙̼̖̙͌̽͑̕͟͜͞ Ḙ͉̯͕͙͖͊̉͊͐̚͢͞F̴̰̫̼͉͎̮͈̜̻͇̑̇͂̓̆́F̡̦̳̤͎̦͖̾̉̓͛͋Ō̶̡͈̗̟̥̜͈̦̻̓̒̀͊͋͒͒͞͡Ŗ̶̨͎͇̒̾͌̒͐͋͘͝͞͝ͅT̷̥̼̙̜̭̪͑͊̌̔̕S̵̢̠̣͚̱̫͖͎̖̄̀͌̋͡ W̤͓̠̹͓̯̋̇̎͆͐̎̿̍I̧̥͍̮̝͗̽̀͐͊̿̾̏͆͞Ľ̷͔̘̼͖̞̫̬̠̑̒̎̾L̩͕̱̻̠͂͂̒͋̊̃̃͢͢͠ B̧̧̠̦͉̗̥̏͒̑̕͢͟E̝͔͚̦̝͉͓̻̞̞̋͛̆̀̐ F̻̹̳̹̙̦̪̈̊̌̾͜͢Ų̮̳͎͍̠͔̓̓́̀̆͗͢T̪̗̭̻̰̔̌̑͘̕͜ͅĪ̦͕̦̠̳̫́̆̆̄͞L̖̪̝̠̤͖͓̾̅̓̉̂̕͟͠E͙̝͙̙̰̊̃̇̐̏̈̕͢͡͡ͅ.̪̻̳̗̏̑̎̂̎̊̿͆͝͝

G̷̜̭̳̪̭̫̹̏͛͗͒̈̍̄Į̫̖̥̫͂͂̍͠Ṽ̬͖̤̜̻͎̱͍̘̽̂̿̌̈́̑̅Ę̻͖͇̹̭̽͑̌̾̌̕͜͟͡ Ü͎͓͉̣͓̬̖̗͔͋̓̈́͒͗̆̉͢Ṕ̷̧̛̺̞̼̮̔̑̃̕͡ͅ.̢̯͕̥͇̻͖̬̔̉̿̽̔̈̓̔͟͝͡

"Nope!"

 

\--

 

The break room was just as gloomy as the rest of hospital, the only lights being the humming fluorescent streaks tethered to the ceiling, no windows to speak of. Dave opened the refrigerator with a sigh, cracking the seal of his apple juice and taking a few gulps, his head ringing and pounding like a bell. For some reason he had to take so many breaks when working, like the energy was just l̵̕e̴̢͘̕͝e͘͡͝c͟h͠e̷͘d̷̸̴ out of his body. He took off his shades and rubbed his eyes, leaning against the fridge and looking down at his hands. When did they start shaking?

Dave almost jumped out of his skin when the door slammed open, Jade's eyes bloodshot. She said nothing as she slid over to the couch, tucking her head in her arms and groaning. He walked over to her and knelt next to the couch, tilting his head and patting hers, eyes peaking through her hair.

"I heard about Rose and Kurtis." He muttered.

"Shut up." Jade uttered.

"Wha-"

"Shut up!" She jetted up from her seat, teeth bared and face red. The nurse quickly slumped back down, immediately looking guilty.

"Jade-"

"Be quiet! Please! There's so much-so much...noise!" Dave could see tears prick her eyes, and he lifted himself onto the couch next to her.

"Jade..." He said quietly "Are you...ok?"

"No...no-no I'm not. I'm so-" Jade sobbed, trailing off.

"Is this about Kurtis?"

"It's not-It's not Just about Kurtis. Whenever I-he-I just SNAP! Something in my head just makes me HATE him! An-And whenever they talk to me-or-or say my name, immediately I-" Dave leaned into Jade, trying to comfort her.

"I've been feeling like that too..." He muttered, Jade lifting her head.

"Really? What do think is happening? Should we talk to Rose?" Dave's head was suddenly filled with burning static, behind his glasses his eyes clamped shut lest they be pushed out of his skull by the flood of p͜͜҉a̶̧̡i̡͢͠n҉.

"Ngh-no-nah. It's chill, probably just lead in the water. We'll die in a few months after our brains melt or something." Jade cheered up, smiling and sitting up.

"Pff-please, keep talking and we won't have to wait for the lead." Jade chuckled, standing up and stretching. "I'm gonna head back to work now, try not to stay off too long." She practically skipped out of the break room, Dave anxiously watching her leave.

As soon as she was out of sight, Dave leaned over the side of the couch and vomited, eyes watering as his body tensed and his mouth filled with acid. His ridged body suddenly lurched up, his movements stiff as if he was going through rigor mortis until he suddenly gave in and became fluid. Dave sauntered out of the break room and made a beeline to the solitary ward, white brick walls and swinging doors whizzing pass him until his body decided to stop amid the monotonous decor, in front of a metal door.

His steady hands removed the keys from his belt and unlocked the door, swinging it open with a squeak. Inside ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis was laying down on the cushioned floor, head resting on the wall as he slept, not r̶̵̡͜͠ǫ̕͜͝u̧̧̢̕s̡̨̢e̴̛͠͡͝d̴̕ from slumber by the squeak of the door. Dave crawled on top of him, being sure not to touch the ~~troll~~ boy as his face drew closer.

"Karkat." His voice was smooth, apathetic. ~~Karkats~~ Kurtis' eyes fluttered open before going wide, head pressed against the padded wall.

"Wh-what?!" ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis was even more confused when he felt warm human lips on his, warmly kissing him. It took him a few seconds before he kissed back, leaning into him. He felt so comforted, like he was back on the meteor in his troll body. Dave pulled away.

"Karkat..."

"Dave..what-you remem-" Again, Dave's lips pressed against his, Dave wrapping his arms around ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis and hugging him close. Just as ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis melted into him, Dave pushed an acrid fluid down his throat, still holding him passionately as if it was a normal kiss, the ~~trolls~~ boys body going tense and trying to rip away but unable to. The taste in his mouth became salty and metallic, and before he knew it, sea water and blood splashed down his throat, escaping down his chin and through his nose.

Everything hurt.  
Everything burned.

After an eternity the flow slowed down and Dave pulled away, ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis seeing nothing behind his glasses and no expression on his face. In the light of the hallway he could see the pinkish mix of blood and seawater on his nightgown and padded cell, yet nothing stained Dave's uniform.

He was just about to speak, but before he could, the fluid pushed its way out of ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis, the ~~troll~~ boy hunching over away from Dave as his throat burned with acid, salt and blood.

Dave turned away from ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis, no expression on his face as he shut and locked the door, turning away to return to the recreation room and talk to ~~Terezi~~ Theresa.


	4. L̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶A̶t̶ First Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She loved her, but who was she?
> 
>  
> 
> (Originally posted on 3-8-19)

~~Kanaya~~ Kianna fiddled with the hem of her nightgown, having already been called out for biting her human fingernails out of stress. She was surprised to see how easily human claws split.

The recreation room was dull, with tables and chairs dotted about, a radio and a television being the main activities available to the ~~trolls~~ patients, as well as a few board games and an ample selection of books. There were windows that displayed the usual grey scenery and no paintings or pictures to speak of.

 ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna watched the room diligently, choosing a seat on a soft chair in the corner of the room for the best vantage point. Ever since ~~Karkat~~ Kurtis had been sent to solitary, ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna had found herself stressed out and more reserved, hoping that he was doing fine and just spending her time watching her surroundings, that being the only distraction she could tolerate at the time. Near the only entrance and exit was Dave, who was chatting with ~~Terezi~~ Theresa at a wooden table, the pair long giving up on a game of chess. He had only arrived a few moments ago after one of his frequent breaks, John moving from the table with ~~Terezi~~ Theresa and moving to monitoring at the side of the room next to the television, which was on the Discovery channel from the ardent requests of ~~Eridan~~ Eric and ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele.

 ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele was laying on her stomach as close as she could to ~~Equius~~ Elliott without being yelled at, the two just happy to be together again, whereas ~~Eridan~~ Eric was sat crossed-legged by himself, pouting a little at the fact that it would be another half hour until the strange human artillery would be shown again.

After the sprite shenanigans caused by ~~Gamzee~~ Gabriel during the alpha session, ~~Feferi~~ Fifi, ~~Sollux~~ Sullivan and ~~Eridan~~ Eric were on better terms. The three spoke more often, and ~~Eridan~~ Eric and ~~Sollux~~ Sullivan could handle being in the same room as each other, hence why ~~Feferi~~ Fifi and ~~Sollux~~ Sullivan were sitting only a few feet away talking among themselves.

 ~~Tavros~~ Travis was sat next to the bookshelf, pouring over the pages and looking quite content, feeling as if he was back at his ~~hive~~ home. ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna had scanned over some of the books, and they seemed relatively similar to the kind of fables the ~~troll~~ boy would bury himself in as a ~~wriggler~~ child. ~~Tavros~~ Travis was never to be found all that far away from ~~Gamzee~~ Gabriel, who was sitting in the corner to the left of ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna, curled up in a ball and not communicating with anyone.

 ~~Gamzee~~ Gabriel hadn't spoken to anyone since they all woke up, staying to himself and sulking, not that ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna cared, she didn't want him interacting with anybody.

Lost in her surveillance of the room, ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna hadn't noticed...her. She lowered her head and tried to avert her eyes despite the fact she was walking directly over to her.

Rose looked exactly the same as before. She had the same tired violet eyes outlined with eyeliner, the same pale, soft skin, looking almost ghost-like in the hospitals lights, and the same purple-painted, kissable lips, always seeming to spout nonsensical human sarcasms.

"Ms Mary-Anne?" She inquired, bending down to meet ~~Kanaya's~~ Kianna's eyes. ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna said nothing. She just wanted her to say her name. "Ms Mary-Anne, are you alright?"

"If you'll excuse me Dr.Lalonde, I need to use your human-the...restroom." ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna stood up, arms defensively crossed, head tilted down as she walked past Rose over to John, who was staring off, engrossed in his own thoughts.

"Pardon, J-Nurse Egbert? May I go to use the lavatory?" John snapped out of his trance, blinking and shaking his head before looking at the young woman.

"Oh! Yeah sure, I'll go wi-"

"D̴̨o̶n҉̷'̢͘͟t҉͘ ̸̶̢͠w̷͢o̡̡̕͡r̴͟͢͟͡r̷̶̴̵y͜͠͠҉,̵̕ ̨̨͞͝J͟͠o̸̴̡̨h̵̡n̨͜͏̶." Rose said firmly, voice humming out in ~~Kanaya's~~ Kianna's ears. "I'll accompany Ms Mary-Anne. Perhaps this could be an opportunity to converse." John nodded in response, ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna sauntered out of the room, Rose quickly following behind.  
"I believe I haven't had the pleasure of a conversation with you yet, Kianna, if you're alright with me calling you by your name."

"Is that so?" She muttered, trying her best to be as succinct as possible.

"Although we will have PLENTY of time to talk during our session in a week or so, if you will, I would like to get to know you prior to our session."

"Oh, ok. Why?" ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna knew she shouldn't trigger conversation, but the question burned at her for some reason.

"You seem quite enigmatic, sitting by yourself, watching the room like a hawk, and lonely, and it is anything if not by duty to accompany you to find out what it is that dwells on your mind." Rose looked at ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna with inquisitive eyes. "So tell me, Kianna, what is it that dwells on that mind of yours at this particular moment?"

She made the mistake of looking at her.

 ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna stopped in her tracks, caught off guard by those entrancing eyes; the colour of the depths of the oceans, where unfathomable beasts dwell and feed; the hue of the furthest rings of the universe, with distant glimpses of dying stars and bursting suns. The way her ghostly white hair framed her face was ethereal, like she was a celestial being stepping among mortals, like a goddess was in her skin and trying to break out, not afraid of the effect her incomprehensible beauty would have on the world, on ~~Kanaya~~.

On Kianna.

"...I-I-I need to go!" Before ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna could run, Rose grabbed her arm with her ghostly hands, the ~~troll~~ girl accidentally looking around at her enchanting face once more. "Please! Dr-Rose! I need to-I-" She had to say it "-I̵̧̨ ̢͝͠l̛͘̕o͡҉̢͜͡v̕̕e̶̴͘͡ ̶̛͘y͏͟͞o̸̧u͜! I love you, Rose!" The words slipped from her lips, a force inside her and in the universe pushing her to say it.

Rose was taken aback enough to let go of ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna, a crackling in her head as she watched the ~~troll~~ girl run down the corridor into the bathroom. She didn't bother to run in after her, simply wandering down and leaning against the wall next to the door, thinking.

Her headache was back, which she unfortunately had to deal with, but also meant that something was happening, if the fact that a ~~troll~~ girl she had just met confessed her undying love to her hadn't tipped her off the the fact beforehand. There was certainly sincerity in her voice, but why? Could this be part of the ~~trolls~~ patients mass delusions of

Ŝ̢̛̟͇̳̪̩̩̫̯̔̒̐͢͝͠Ţ̗̙͍̫͎̥͙̮̄̋̊̃̂̽͗͘͟͞Ơ̷̧̤̙̱̰̥̻̰͕̪͂̆̉͝͠P̷̤͓͍̥̬̮͍̮̐̊͌̓͝ͅ S̛̝̖̳͉̣̾͆̚̚͜Ę̨̧͖̭̮̂̏̇̏͝͞A̴̝̤͚̬͑̐͑́̂̅ͅR̛̩̞̮̺͓̺̮͊̆̾͝ͅC̵̛̼̼͎͍͎̟̳̪̗̔̉̃͟H̷̝̟͉͚͖̝̝̩̯̩͊͛͋̋͐͘̕͠I̢̩̦͕̟͕̥͉̊͛̓͊̔̂̔͂̅͜͟͝N̶̨̧͈̣̳͋́̊̐̈́̍͒̚G̴̡̖͔̜̪̦͂̑̀̔̏̇̕ F̷͇̠̲͚̐̇̉́̓̌̓͊͞ͅO̡̢̝̘̲̖̞̅͛́̈̾̃R̨̪͈͎̗̹͉̅̾̒̌͌̑͠ Ạ̶̛͙̟̘̮̃̿̾͑̃̃̓̈́̓N̵̛̫̻͔̹͍͚̗͈̱͕͊̃̓̒S̡̼͖͇͙̞̀̆͑̽͟W̷̛̮̙̘̜̪͕͌͛͋̾̂̾͆̑͑E̢̢̲̝͈̜͖͔͕͛͗́̓͛̆͝͡R͖͖̟̺̜̐͋͊̓́͌͛̀̕͠Ş̵̼͙̫̜̦͂̐̅̔̽̕͢

Rose groaned and held her head in her hands, her brain feeling like it was melting in her skull. This meant that she was getting closer. This meant that she wa

Ḑ̸̡̜̯̮̰̣̳̃͊͐̓̎Ȏ̴̮̺̠̬̃͛̈͂͒̆͘͢͠ Ņ̶̖̭͚͍̤̘͒̀͒̽̽̒͐͟͞ͅO̝͈̜̭̻̻̮̦̻̔͆̾̄ͅT̶͔͓͖̺̜͍̹̝̋̈́̊̕͜͝͠ T̸̡͉͍͙̦̱̱͈͂͌̈͗̀̚̚͜͢R̢̺͇͈̜͇̜̱̔͌̾͌̾͝O̴͎̜͇̦̰̒̆̈̿̎͝͝Ŭ̸̖͈̟̩̥̥̍̐̓̽̂͆̚B̪͔̫̹̲͕̳͚͉̬͛̓̔̓̄̆͆̾̚L̡̨̲͎̱̤̐̀̓̎̈́̄͟Ȩ̝̱͓̮͛̏̃̄̅́̐͞ Y̛͍̠̲̪̬̌͛͊͘͞O̸̯̣̫̭̥̯̝̙̙͌̊̑̊̚͟U̢͇͉̥̖̤͔͌̇̇̑͗̍͆̐̽͞Ȓ̟͚͍̣̺͚͉̓͒̾́͟͜͡ͅṢ̷̢̧̜̥̲͖̟͉͊̅̉̏̓̇͊Ȩ̶̝͙͓̝̬̮̦̅̋͐̄̐̎̚͝L̵͉̫͇͍̲̼͙̯̦̫̑͂̾͒̊̔̽̍͐̕F̸̨̭̪̩͎̼̠́͑͂̏̊̉͘͢͝ Ẅ̵̝͍̼̰͕͒̿͂̅̂͑̔̍͞I̷̧̢͕̹̟͂̓̔̿̕Ţ̜͍͇̜̝̺̙̰̀̈̑̔̊͜͡͡͡Ḧ̨̛̱͙͙͈̗͖́̽̇̃͛͘̚͝ Ȃ̪̣̺͙̱͎͈̜̰̊͛̅͗͟N̸̡̝̳̠͔͎̬̼͆̀̌̌͆͐̂̊̽͆S̴̨̳̳̝͔̙̜͎̿͌̏͋̾̑̄W̨͓̗̬̲̥̮͎͆̾̓̃͌̏E̢̝̞͖͎̫̍͐́̍̈̐̾͋͝R̢͕̺̗̤̒̿̎̔̕S̶̠͇͉̹͙̣͆́̑̄̕͘̚͞ͅͅ,̻̜͖̤͖̝̍̎͂̈͗͋̚͘͠ S͍̣̣̤̯̟̺͆͒̔̍͒͘͞Ę̵̛̺̭̺̺̙̓̒̈͡͡ͅĘ̶̨̼͓̭͆̐̒̆̓̅͆R̛̗̰̹̘͎̣̆̈̎̊̉͡.

The voice was faint, yet powerful; almost inaudible, yet it resonated in her teeth and eyes. Obviously this was an indication to continue searching, any information worth keeping from people was usually information worth finding out.

 

\--

 

 ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna ran into the bathroom, rushing straight into one of the stalls and slamming the door. She was panting, not crying, yet. Everything was so...overwhelming. She could still see Rose's face, and feel her hand wrapped around her arm like a silken scarf. S̕͜҉̨͝h̶̕͢͟͠e̡̛͠ ̶̸n̴̛͜͞e͠͞͏̨͠ȩ͘͏̡d̴͘e̛͠d̵̨̢̧͝ ̢̡͘͞t̸̕͠͝o̷ ̸͜s҉͡t̴͏͏͠a̢͢y̕͡͠ ̵̨͜a̴̸͘͜w̴͘a̵̧̕y. She needed to say away. ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna wiped her face, feeling how hot it was in her sweaty hands.

This would be the only reasonable option. Every time ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna saw Rose she just became sadder and sadder, and longed for her more and more. It was the only reasonable option.

 ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna left the stall and turned on the sink, scooping up the water with her hands and rubbing it on her face before leaving the bathroom, Dr. Lalonde waiting on the other side. ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna didn't spare her any words, walking past her in the direction of the recreation room. Dr. Lalonde was visibly confused, following behind and trying to figure out what to do. She half expected having to go into the bathroom to get her out.

"So, you love me." It was posed less as a question and more as a statement. ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna didn't react, not even speeding up. She was blank. "What if I were to say, I lo-̧͟͝҉" Something inside Rose stopped her, deciding that it was the wrong thing to say at the wrong time. Before she knew it, ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna was already at the recreation room door, walking away from her.

Rose didn't know what to do. It was clear to her that there was something happening with ~~Kanaya~~ Kianna, but she couldn't quite place what it was.

This was definitely going to be i̶̴̷n̷̨͠t̶҉҉e̡̧͘r͏e͝҉̷s͜ţ̶i̢n҉̕͟͜g̶̡͢͞͡.


	5. Just To Feel You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All she wanted to do was to hold her moirail.
> 
>  
> 
> (Originally posted on 13-8-19)

It was a simple plan.

The ~~trolls~~ patients that hadn't been sent to solitary confinement were separated by their ~~human~~ genders, the girls having access to the bathroom first. Once in the separate showers they were made to undress and the nurses would leave the room, giving ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele her chance.

She sneaked out of the showers and hid inside one of the baths, making sure that the buckled covers obscured her petite yet muscular form peeking her head out to scout. ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele found herself paying attention to the bodies of the other ~~trolls~~ girls in their nakedness, observing the odd colours of flesh, ranging from tans to pale pinkish colours, to dark browns; some of them even having brown freckles! ~~None of them had grubscars or bulges, (the latter being a feature in which she found herself wishing she had back) but instead had brownish bumps on their chests, and strange nooks, not that she wanted to let her eyes dwell on those areas for too long~~.

 ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele found herself blushing and ducking under the bath cover, and to her luck, she had only just evaded Jade's watchful eye re-entering the washroom, calling the ~~trolls~~ girls over to her to get dried and clean clothes. She was practically BURSTING with excitement and anticipation! Jade walked out with the ~~trolls~~ girls and the male nurses walked in with the other ~~trolls~~ patients.

Her excitement soon turned into fear as she heard ~~Tavros'~~ Travis' wheelchair and some footsteps approach the sets of baths. She could hear the bath next to her begin to be unstrapped and unbuckled as it was filled, ~~Tavros~~ Travis muttering something about being uncomfortable as he was lifted into the tub, a small splash of water echoing off the sides as he shifted to a more comfortable position. It wasn't long until the water was turned off and the nurses left the washroom, leaving _all_ of the ~~trolls~~ patients to their own devices.

The ~~troll~~ girl giggled as she climbed out of the tub, ~~Tavros~~ Travis almost screaming at seeing a naked ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele rise from a bathtub.

"N-Nepeta?! Wh-" As he spoke, ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele put her finger to her lips.

"Shh! I don't want the humans to come in!" ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele explained, ~~Tavros~~ Travis nodding and trying to avert his eyes from his naked friend.

"Equius!" She chirped. ~~Equius~~ Elliott turned around and almost slipped in shock, ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele running into a jump and wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him down into a hug. The plan had worked perfectly!

"What? Nepeta-you-you're-" ~~Equius~~ Elliott stammered.

"Calm down! Hug back!"

"But you're-you're naked!"

"Hadn't guessed." ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele retorted, starting to get annoyed with her ~~moirail~~ friend. "Just hug me already!"

"N-I-can't-you-Nepeta-I-" ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele grabbed the rotating shower head and squirting the water in his face for a second before pulling it back, the ~~troll~~ boy gathering his bearings and snapping out of his panic.

"Um, Nep? Why are you naked?" ~~Eridan~~ Eric asked, looking at the ~~troll~~ girl with a puzzled look on his face.

"Becauthe why the fuck not? Ever think of that geniuth?" ~~Sollux~~ Sullivan bit, not really caring about the situation at hand, but wanting to piss off ~~Eridan~~ Eric a little.

"You feeling better?" She asked, hands on ~~Equius'~~ Elliott's wet shoulders. He paused for a moment to breathe before wrapping his arms around her, embracing his ~~moirail~~ friend tightly in his strong arms. ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele quickly hugged back, relishing the feeling of her ~~moirail's~~ friend's touch again.

"We should hide now." ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele said, grabbing ~~Equius'~~ Elliott's hand and pulling him out of the showers.

"First we should get dressed." He suggested, only barely able to conceal his joy as they hurried over the the towels and hospital robes, quickly rubbing dry and pulling on the sterile gowns. The pair scampered over to the baths, ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele giggling and ~~Equius~~ Elliott smiling widely, hurriedly scrambling to undo the the cover of the bath, ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele practically jumping in as soon as ~~Equius~~ Elliott peeled the cover back, the ~~troll~~ boy not following far behind, pulling the cover over them as he climbed in.

"I'm so glad we can finally do this!" ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele squeaked, shuffling up to her ~~moirail~~ friend and trying to comfortably lean against him without hitting her head on the stiff bath cover, ~~Equius~~ Elliott seeming to attempt to do the same thing until the pair were leaning shoulder to shoulder against each other with their legs stretched out in the long bath.

"Me too. The humans don't seem to like us touching."

"The humans are weird! This whole situation is weird!" ~~Equius~~ Elliott reached over to pat his ~~moirail~~ friends face, gently shushing her and stopping her before she could rant on.  
"Sorry it's just-what's even happening here? Why are we even human now? Why are are names different? What even _is_ this place?!"

"Slow down," ~~Equius~~ Elliott urged gently, smiling at seeing her so energetic. "I don't know the answers either, b-"

The washroom door opened, the two falling into a cautioned silence as the other ~~trolls~~ patients were led out. Luckily, the pair knew that none of their friends would alert the nurses to their whereabouts, and even luckier, the thought to count the ~~trolls~~ patients just happened to s͡͏l̷̨͠i̶̢͡p̷̢ ̴͢͜҉t̶͠h͏̸͘҉e̸̢i̛͢͠͠r̵͠ ̢͜͟͏͟m̵͢͢i̡n҉̷̢͟d̴̨̨͘͟s̸̨҉̵.

The plan was p̧͡e̸͞҉̕҉r̕͜f̡͢e͜͡c̶t̴̡

As soon as the door shut, the lights to the washroom were shut off and the pair were left alone together.

"It worked! I can't believe it actually worked!" She gasped, gleefully squeezing ~~Equius~~ Elliott, who took a moment to hug back. "Ugh, I'm never gonna let go!"

"You might have to." ~~Equius~~ Elliott wheezed, ~~Nepeta's~~ Nephele's strength still remaining, even as a human. She softened her grip, arms loosening around ~~Equius~~ Elliott yet she still pressed herself against him.

"What's wrong, _Sweatquius_? Not _strong_ enough to handle me?" ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele teased, ~~Equius~~ Elliott suddenly squishing her tight enough to crack bones before releasing her.

"Hush, you gosh darned silly face," He said, in his attempt at insulting her "I will pop you." ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele snorted, taken off guard by his threat.

"Oh my gog!" She laughed "Pop me?! What does that even mean?!" ~~Equius~~ Elliott started to chuckle along with her, just happy to hear his ~~moirail~~ friend laugh again.

"This is nice..." He mused warmly, snuggling up to ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele in the bath. Not one to pass up an opportunity to cuddle, the ~~troll~~ girl nuzzled into her ~~moirail~~ friend, the pair falling asleep together in each others arms, warm and happy.

 

\--

 

 ~~Equius~~ Elliott shuffled as he woke up, grunting at the feeling of the hard bath and the weight on his side. Looking over he saw that ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele was still sleeping peacefully, clinging onto his side. Even as a human he found her so adorable. He leaned over and pet her hair, her hat completely missing from her look, as it had been ever since they arrived. ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele huffed, opening her eyes and groaning.

"Ughh, Equius..." She murmured, her head filled with static, eyes feeling as if they were going to burst out of her skull. "I don't wanna wake uuup."

"Nepeta, my back." ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele slid off over her ~~moirail~~ friends, crawling over his legs to the other side of the bath. ~~Equius~~ Elliott stretched out, joints popping as his stiff muscles and bones were pulled, ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele taking the opportunity to stretch herself.

"What time is it?" ~~Equius~~ Elliott yawned, laying back in the bath.

"I don't know if time even works here." She said "There's no clocks or anythi-" The door burst open, ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele squeaking before slamming her hand over her mouth.

" They're probably hiding in here." A voice said, echoing around the room. The pair shuffled over to the side of the bath in where the cover was latched on, trying to be as quiet as possible as they moved, ~~Equius~~ Elliott reaching for ~~Nepeta's~~ Nephele's hand and clutching it tightly.

There were sudden noises of buckles and straps being undone on neighbouring baths, covers falling to the floor with dull clatters. It wasn't long before the cover of the bath ~~Equius~~ Elliott and ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele were hiding in was rattling above them, the buckles and cords falling to the side before the cover was peeled off.

"Found them." Dave said, his expression blank as he looked down at the pair, the ~~moirails~~ friends staring back with terrified looks on their faces.

"Get them out!" Jade hissed, storming over as John and Dave lifted ~~Equius~~ Elliott and ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele out of the bath, the pair thrashing, especially ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele. "You two are in _so_ much trouble."

"Let go of me! Equius!" ~~Nepeta~~ growled, looking at her ~~moirail~~ friend with pleading eyes. With a lucky shot, ~~Nepeta~~ Nephele managed to kick Dave in the leg and pushed off him, reaching for her ~~moirail~~ before getting grabbed again. But she still persisted.

"Equius do something!" She managed to hit Dave in the head, the nurse lifting his arms to make sure she didn't slip before she bit his hand, running to ~~Equius~~ Elliott to hit John. Before she could get a shot in, she felt a sharp pain in her back before her body was filled with painful electricity.

"Nepeta!" ~~Equius~~ Elliott yelled, struggling even more against John, but for some reason, h̷҉e̸̷̡͟ ̸҉͜c̸͜͜o͏̷͡u̕͏̕͢l̛͡d͢n̸̸̡̛͠'̛̕̕͟t̨͝͠ ͜͏̴̢̧p̨͠u҉ļ͟l͞҉͘͠ ̷̸a҉͟w̢̛͜a̛͞y͝͏͝. He watched as his friend screamed, groaning as she fell to the floor, Dave lifting her up and carrying her out, ~~Equius~~ Elliott being dragged behind her, head hung low.


	6. Dissociation, Mind And Body

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who was he?  
> ¿ǝɥ sɐʍ oɥM

This place...  
˙˙˙ǝɔɐld sᴉɥ┴

It wasn't real.  
˙lɐǝɹ ʇ,usɐʍ ʇI

He _knew_ it wasn't real.  
˙lɐǝɹ ʇ,usɐʍ ʇᴉ ʍǝuʞ ǝH

HE KNEW IT WASN'T!  
┴,NS∀M ┴I MƎNK ƎH

"Gabriel?" Dr. Lalonde asked. ~~Gamzee~~ Gabriel looked up, his thoughts echoing around his ~~pan~~ head. "Gabriel are you alright?" He looked up, suddenly appearing in a strange office, Rose sitting in front of him with an inquisitive look on her face. The dishevelled and confused ~~troll~~ patient said nothing.

"What can you tell me about yourself, Gabriel?"

"I'm not...my name is Gamzee." He muttered quietly, his voice barely reaching a whisper.

"So, _Gabriel_ l̷͜ǝ̶̛͟ᴉ̡̕͜͞ɹ͝q̸̶̴̕ɐ̸͜͝פ, who are you?" Everything was so fuzzy, he was wading through time, every second sticking to him, every word dripping into his mind.

"I'm Gamzee. I'm a troll-I think-I-I don't-I've been made to do things, and-and I don't know if it was actually me-I-" ~~Gamzee~~ Gabriel was unravelling, his past weighing down on him.

"'Gamzee', I wan't you to repeat after me. Can you do that for me?" The ~~troll's~~ patient's ears pricked up at his name.

"Yeah-yes!" ~~Gamzee~~ Gabriel burst, practically begging her for help.

"My name is G̸̷͘͝a͡͏̡͏b̸̡r̵̛͟͜ie҉̴̶͡l͏͜͞. I am 21 years old. I have struggled with addiction, delusions and violence, but I'm doing f̨͟͝͏i͘͏̷n̴͢͝͝e͠."

"My n-n̵͘҉̶a̶͡͝҉̧m̸͟e͠͏ is G̵̶̨͝a̶̧̧͝b̵̢̛ŗ̴͡i͜͏͝e͝l̨͜. I am-am-no-I'm 2̴̨̛͝1͘̕͟͞ ̴͝҉̨y҉e̵͠͏͟a̷̡͢͢͡r͜͠s̨͘ ̵͡o̶̴͘l̢̢̧d̴. I ̴͜͜͠ha҉v̢͟͡ȩ ̵͠s͘͠͡͝͝t͏̸̴̡ŗ̷͞u͞͝ģg̡͘͏͏l̸̕e̵̢͘͠d҉͜ ͏͢͠͏w̛i̸̧͝t̨h͢͜͠ ̴̢̧͝a̷̧̛d̶͏͠d̷̷͟͠į̨͘c̕͝t̶̸i̶͝͏ǫ͠͠҉n̴͡, d̶͘͟͏e̴̕l̵̵̛͞s̵̢͟i͜͡o̢͠n̷̶̛s̷͡ a͏͏n҉̕͝d҉҉̸̨҉ v̡i̸̧̕o̶͢l̢͝e͝n̵̕͜͠c̨͟e̢̢,̧̡͘ ̧͘b̛u͘͏t̶ ̸̡̡͜͟I̵͟͝'͘͟m̸̢̛͜͞ ̴̴̨͠͡d̶͏o̸̶̡̕i҉̴̢͏͝n̶͟g̕͡͏͜ f̸̫͕͈̣̳̪̣͑̍̂̿̇͛̍͌͘͞i͔̝͔͈̝̔͒̒̄̃͂̄̕ņ̭̹̺̗̱̰̥̯͓͒̈̈́̈̍̋͝͠ȇ̛̛̬̝͙͉̼̭̣͛̔̓̆͒̕͜͞ͅ." ~~Gamzee's~~ Gabriel's expression was blank, black-ringed eyes seeming unfocused.

"Very g̡͢ơ̧͟͠o̴͢͜d̡, Gabriel!" Rose praised, sitting back in her egg-chair and writing on her notepad. "What I'm going to suggest to you is, to say that w̶̛͝͞h̷͏e̷̶͟͝n̡e̸͏̴v̶͘͘͡͞e̴͠r̵̡ you feel troubled, and if you are struggling, you can come to me at any time."

By a will that wasn't his own, ~~Gamzee~~ Gabriel rose from his seat and began to walk out the room, John waiting for him to escort him to the recreation room.

 

\--

 

Rose exhaled a shuddering sigh, her entire body numb and heavy. It had gotten to the point where she could barely stand up as she always felt like she was falling. The tiered therapist shakily rose to her feet, notepad clasped in hand as she slumped over to h̶̷̕͢͡e҉̨͟r̸̸͘͟ cabinet, tearing out the pages she had wrote for ~~Gamzee's~~ Gabriel's session and stuffing them into a drawer, sluggishly locking it with a k̷҉ȩy̧͢ around her neck. All the information about every ~~troll~~ patient was in that cabinet, as well as the files of the staff.

If anything were to happen to the cabinet, it would be...d̸̨͖̞͇̗̥̻̏͊̄͆̉͡e͇͎͇͉̽͊̈̿̈̽̕͟͞t̩̲̬̠̗̜͋̂̌̽̔͋̕͢ͅr̸̪͖̲̬̖̱͚̫̘̒͑̅͐̒̈͛͟͝í͈̭͎̫̭͍͖̲̇̇̆͝m̟̣̖͈̝͎̩̥͎͆͋͑̌ͅĕ̶̡̪̤̯̞̙̻̟̌͛͋͊͠ͅn̷̳̫͚̲̥̍̿̔͛̎̆̍̕͜͝t̨̗̘̯͚̦͚̹̾͐̾͌̓̽̕͘͢å̡̧͇̳̭̜̑̈́͑͟͢͝ḻ͈̝͚̤̮̩̓̓̕͢.

Rose clutched the key to her chest as she floated back over to her chair, slumping back down with a sigh.

"Hey, Rose?" John said, walking in and taking a seat in front of her.

"Oh, hello John. What brings you here?" Her voice was tired.

"I've just been wondering, are you feeling ok? You kinda look like shit, no offence."

"You flatter me Johnathan."

"Haha, yeah but-like, seriously Rose, you've kinda been...deteriorating. I worry about you sometimes. You haven't been eating or drinking, and you look like a dead body!"

"Oh John," Rose said warmly, leaning forwards and taking his hands in her own to comfort him. "I'm glad you care but, I'm doing fine, just a little s̷̶̕͞t̷̴͘͝r̶̡ȩ̛s̡͡s̡͏̴e͏̛͘d͜͏ from work."

"Oh, well-"

"So how are _you_ doing John?" Rose burst, suddenly looking as if she was _full_ of l̨͏i͞fȩ͜͢ and e̶͏̶͠n̵̛͜e̡̡̛͜r̴̡g̨͞y͞͠. "I haven't h̛͘͘͞e҉̶a͟r͜͠҉̶̵d̵̨̡͟ a lot from you, are you ok?" John sat back, overwhelmed by Rose's sudden attention.

"Well-um-I've been doing fine?"

"You can't fool me John, I know that there's s̵̛͘͡o̢͝m̢͠e͝͏t̶̶͟͜h̵̢͝҉i͏͜͜͡҉n̶̨̛͡͠g̕͟͢ wrong."

"I mean...I guess I've been feeling a _bit_ more rough than usual." John began, Rose smiling and nodding at her friend

"Tell me m̷̢o̸̡̕͞͡r̴҉̸̷͢ȩ͝ about it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on 19-8-19


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